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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 JUNE 2023 Exotic parrots and red flags Editorial JOSEPH Muscat's consultancy contract, with a firm owned by someone involved in a casino that had been given a generous lease extension by government, is a classic example of 'revolving doors'. Muscat took on the consultancy work with Or- ganicum, a company dealing in exotic parrots, soon after he stepped down as prime minister in January 2020. It so happens that the company's shareholder, Johann Schembri, is also a key shareholder in Drag- onara Casino, that had been given a controversial lease extension by Muscat's government several months earlier. It appears that Muscat took no time to cash in on the business contacts he made while in government. From chief policymaker with the power to influence the fortunes of the private sector, he became chief consultant for businesses that sought his counsel. Strictly speaking, there is nothing illegal with this. Muscat is not the first public official to have crossed the Rubicon into the business world, and certainly won't be the last. We've had in the past examples of public officials who went from regulators and policy makers to being employed by private companies in the sectors they oversaw - a former senior official at the Malta Communications Authority, who was subsequently employed by a telecoms operator and a political functionary responsible for the introduction of the local warden system who then joined a warden company. Each of these cases had raised concerns over a potential conflict of interest, given the privileged public position they previously enjoyed. The revolving doors conundrum has never been resolved, and it remains a sticky subject everywhere. In Germany, eyebrows were raised when former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder turned up as a chief consultant to Russia's state-owned energy firm Gaz- prom, after bowing out of politics. Many other examples abound, including the fa- mous case involving former European commission- er Martin Bangemann, who sparked controversy when he joined Spain's Telefonica: a company in the sector he was responsible for, as commissioner. Bangemann had argued there were no rules dic- tating how commissioners should behave after their term is over. As such, he could not be prevented from exercising his right to freedom of movement and association in a free market. People looking in from the outside are justified in asking whether any decisions, taken by the individ- uals in their capacity as public officials, were influ- enced by the prospect of future employment in the sectors they once regulated. This is a conversation that this country still needs to have. To eliminate the revolving doors conun- drum, with all the negative connotations it brings about, the State would have to be ready to fork out generous transition payments to retiring senior public officials to prevent them, for a period, from joining sectors they once oversaw. Curbing someone's ability to engage in work is an expensive venture but one that could have a positive influence on the credibility of policymakers. However, beyond the argument as to whether and how Malta should tackle the issue of revolving doors, Muscat's consultancy contract with the par- rot firm raises far more serious red flags. For starters, the Dragonara Casino lease exten- sion was mired in controversy. Although it was approved in parliament in 2019, with the Opposi- tion's consent - then MP Jason Azzopardi had been the lone voice against the generous terms afforded by government - it raised serious question marks in the private sector, because no public call had been issued for the concession. In one fell swoop, government extended an ex- piring 10-year lease by 64 years; and, in the process, saved the casino company millions in lease pay- ments. Muscat has argued that government had no obli- gation, at the time, to seek parliamentary approval; and yet it still took the issue to the House. This is a moot point at this stage, given all we now know about how Muscat's government handled major public contracts. At least one of these con- tracts – the hospitals concession – was rescinded by the courts, and another – the Electrogas power station – includes murder suspect Yorgen Fenech as a shareholder. Furthermore, having the Opposition's consent does not make it automatically right. If anything, it points towards the Opposition's dereliction of duty, by failing to properly scrutinise the deal. The very controversial nature of the casino deal makes Muscat's subsequent engagement as a consultant more questionable. It is more than le- gitimate to ask whether the lucrative consultancy contract was some form of 'payback' to Muscat, for the generous casino lease his government had facili- tated. To any right-thinking person standing on the side lines, it certainly seems so: even if Muscat and the company owner have denied this outright. But there is another major red flag in Muscat's engagement by the parrot firm. The company was a loss-making venture, and yet it could still afford to pay Muscat €11,800 per month. These payments started in April 2020. In financial circles, lucrative consultancy con- tracts awarded by failing companies are a major money laundering red flag. This does not mean that Muscat or Schembri laundered money or that the payments were a form of corruption; but the circumstances certainly merit an investigation by those responsible for preventing financial crime from happening. 3 June 2013 House defeats Opposition motion to amend President's speech THE House of Representatives took its first vote on a motion presented by the Opposition to amend the President's speech from the throne. With 39 votes against and 29 votes in favour, the motion was not approved. In a heated debate which saw Prime Minister Joseph Muscat defend government's plans to appoint MPs to government board and au- thorities, Muscat said he wanted MPs to have a greater role in the decision-making process. Muscat argued that this way, an MP was giv- ing far more than serving as a parliamentary assistant without a defined role. Muscat was reacting to criticism from Oppo- sition leader Simon Busuttil who said govern- ment was planning to remove a legal prohibition on MPs' appointments to boards. Busuttil said government was planning to put forward a bill that amended the functions of MPs, with the end result that government MPs could now sit on government boards and authorities. The Opposition has so far refused a proposal by the government for Nationalist MPs to sit on similar boards. "The government now wants to pay its backbenchers by appointing them on government boards," Busuttil said, accusing government of wanting to control everything. He said that the proposed amendments in- cluded the premise that the Leader of the Hous- es no longer needed to be a minister. "It appears that 23 ministers are not enough... and he now wants to keep some backbencher happy," Busut- til said. In a curt reply to this issue, the Prime Minis- ter said his Cabinet would not be judged by its size, but by its results. He said government wanted to broaden the role of the Opposition where the agenda of a number of sittings would not be set by govern- ment but by the opposition itself. Muscat recalled that at least two PN MPs under the previous administration had headed government organizations. As Busuttil accused Muscat of having placed Malta under Excessive Deficit Procedure, the Prime Minister retorted that the opposition should be the last one to speak on the matter. ... Quote of the Week "Such cases should be treated with extreme sensitivity at every level." Magistrate Rachel Montebello when delivering judgment against a woman with mental health problems who admitted carrying out a medical abortion. The woman was given a conditional discharge, the lowest punishment possible. 1 June, 2023 MaltaToday 10 years ago