MaltaToday previous editions

MALTATODAY 14 August 2022

Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1476201

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 22 of 47

LAST Tuesday, Fredrick Azz- opardi – former head of Infra- structure Malta – was charged in court with breaching the environment protection law by carrying out illegal works at Wied Qirda in Żebbuġ. Plants and protected trees were uprooted and habitats in the sensitive ecological area were destroyed as a result of the agency's decision to upgrade a road leading to a private resi- dence in the rural area. Stop or- ders issued by inspectors from the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), and affixed to machinery on site, were simply removed by workers who con- tinued with the roadworks in the valley. This provoked Arnold Cassola to make a formal report to the police, asking them to investi- gate and take action consider- ing that Infrastructure Malta defied a compliance notice is- sued by ERA. Unfortunately, the right of citizens to make reports and expect the police to take action is more respected by its breach than by its acknowledgement. Indeed, in December 2017, then Chief Justice Silvio Camill- eri had told a European Par- liament rule of law delegation that the police do not even need 'reasonable suspicion' to start a criminal investigation. Inves- tigations can be started by the Police with simple information of a crime brought to their at- tention, in any form. Apart from these legal niceties, a few days before Azzopardi was to appear in court, former PM Joseph Muscat in a Facebook post accused "the institutions" of crumbling to pressure by tak- ing action against Fredrick Az- zopardi. According to Muscat, Azz- opardi was being brought to court, "because he essentially did his job to have the infra- structure that is needed in our country." He added that the time had come to speak out against those in public office who were bow- ing to such pressure "from the usual people". Muscat went on to say that "we too have a voice," pointing out that it is the voice of thousands who should not be taken for fools because they have thus far remained silent. Muscat claimed that the "rushed or panicked" decision to prosecute Azzopardi for sim- ply doing his job seems to have overlooked the fact that there are "obvious legal points" that nullify the case. He even warned that: "This mistaken decision carries consequences. Someone must be held responsible." After this strong statement against the Police for proceed- ing as they were expected to do in terms of the rule of law, Mus- cat said that while he had al- ways defended the institutions when prime minister, he now feels the need to defend citizens from institutions that crumble after a bit of pressure. It must be said that challenges in court against the Police Com- missioner because of the police deciding not to take action on reported alleged crimes are very rare. In fact, for donkey's years, it has constantly been police policy to proceed with formal accusations in court even when the reported crime is of a du- bious nature. In this way, the police avoided such challenges and shifted the final decision on to the courts. It must be said that this unof- ficial policy sometimes led to the suspicion that the police au- thorities were, in fact, shrugging off their responsibility. Even so, the rule of law prevailed. But what Muscat said in his post, in fact, was an attack on the rule of law that – he says – he always defended when Prime Minister. Whether this implies that during Muscat's premier- ship, the police had been told to refrain from taking action in certain cases when he thought such action was 'rushed or pan- icked', is anybody's guess. Or is it only now that the police are taking 'rushed and panicked' decisions? And is taking no ac- tion at all, preferable to taking 'rushed or panicked' decisions? What is sure is that Muscat's comments did not reflect any respect for the rule of law, and, indeed, included a not so hid- den threat in the case of the Po- lice taking action in cases with which he does not agree. In Muscat's universe, it seems that declaring one's respect to the rule of law, while facetiously undermining it, is no contradic- tion at all! The Labour Party and the cur- rent administration – both led by Robert Abela – did not react to Muscat's outbursts. But is feigning that Muscat has said nothing – as if he does not ex- ist – the right way forward for Robert Abela? Tories in trouble Writing in a recent issue of The Spectator, John Oxley compares the final moments before a plane crashes with the situation in the Conservative party in the UK. As he put it: "In those final fate- ful moments, one can observe highly intelligent, highly trained professionals making error after error, gradually dooming them and their passengers. Despite the ringing alarms of the on- board systems, they lose sight of what they are doing or how to avoid the impending doom. They pull the joystick instead of releasing it, they shut down the working engine instead of the failing one, or sometimes the two pilots pull in different directions, cancelling each oth- er out. Eventually, they hit the Point of No Return and, shortly after, the ground." According to him, the Con- servative party struggles in an uncertain world to decide what it wants to do, and struggles to implement the few ideas it has. He argues that the most per- vasive and surprising problem the Tory party faces is that it doesn't care about politics. There is currently no theory in conservative politics. Moreover, factionalism within the party is driven far more by aesthetics than by ideology. The Tory party is not driven by some grand policy agenda, but is simply grasping at shiny objects. There is ultimately emptiness at the heart of the current Conservative party. Its politics and principles are skin deep and conflicted and this fact is being exposed in the cur- rent Sunak vs.Truss leadership contest. There is an almost complete absence of policy innovation. The party grasps around for yesterday's answers to yester- day's problems, copying the homework of Thatcher, a leader who has been out of power for 30 years and dead for ten. Tory MPs and Tory leaders are saying what they think their voters want to hear. But there is no implementation, no plan for adverse consequences, and no underpinning logic or principle. The parallel with the current situation in the PN is striking, even though the PN is already in the Opposition. 7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 AUGUST 2022 OPINION Undermining the rule of law Michael Falzon micfal45@gmail.com Prime Minister Robert Abela (left) with his predecessor Joseph Muscat

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of MaltaToday previous editions - MALTATODAY 14 August 2022