Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1542865
OVER the weekend Roderick Galdes did what he should have done more than a month earlier and resigned from Cabinet. He did so on Saturday evening in anticipation of a story that was going to be published in The Sunday Times of Malta. The resignation letter was not an apology. On the contrary it was a message of defiance, a cri de guerre. Pleading inno- cence, Galdes insisted he did nothing wrong and will be fight- ing the allegations in his regard but was resigning so as not to shackle government's and the Labour Party's work. The tone was anything but suggestive of a man who was stepping down because he understood that he had become a liability for the public office he held. On the contrary, what Galdes was wor- ried about was the impact the mounting pressure would have on the Labour Party. There was a telling sentence in Galdes's letter that sug- gests where the man's loyalties are: "Like I have always done throughout my political career I have always put the party's interest before anything else." For Galdes, the party's interest trumps everything else; pre- sumably, including the national interest he should have been serving as a minister of state. And that is precisely where the problem is. Ministers are there, first and foremost, to serve the public by discharging their state duties towards all citi- zens in an honest, diligent and fair way. By his own admis- sion, Galdes chose to "put the party's interest before anything else". We just wonder how that translated in the work he per- formed in the housing sector. On 7 December this leader had called on Galdes to resign in the wake of revelations that showed how he acquired a duplex penthouse with airspace and garage in Gozo for €141,000—a price that was below market value. To compound matters, Galdes had acquired the penthouse from a developer, who benefitted from a Housing Authority scheme by which it leased out apartments from private companies for use as so- cial housing. Back then, we had argued that the penthouse saga was not just a question of conflict of interest but also one of bad judgement that made Galdes unfit for purpose. "This is why he should step down from minister and if not, the respon- sibility falls on the prime minister to remove him," we had written. The prime minister did not act. Instead, he defended Gal- des even as serious doubts were being cast over the minister's vast property portfolio in Malta, Italy and the UK. Abela did the right thing to accept Galdes's resignation on Saturday but he has to explain why the sudden change of heart. It's not enough to tag along with the explanation Galdes gave that he was resigning to clear his name without saddling government with his problems. Abela would do well to stop defending Galdes and keep at arm's length from his former minister. In the latest saga, a company that won a tender to build so- cial housing units ended up subcontracting works to a com- pany belonging to an Italian national, who had ties with Gal- des's brother. At face value there is nothing criminal in this but it wreaks of indecency. How was it that from the many construction companies around, the one that was chosen for the subcontracted works on social housing units had to be one associated with the minister's brother? The proximity is toxic and yet Galdes cannot even begin to understand why eyebrows were raised. For that matter, we doubt whether an- yone in Castille understands the toxicity of such an arrange- ment. But then there is the wider context that cannot be ignored. Former Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi had accused Galdes of "hobnobbing" with contractors. Mizzi had been speaking about her time as chairperson of Malita Investments plc be- fore stepping down in 2024 because she could not take Gal- des's attempts to interfere with the publicly-listed company's work, any longer. It is crucial to note that the accusation of hobnobbing did not emanate from hostile news portals, the independent press, antagonistic civil society groups or the Opposition. No; it came from none other than Mizzi herself; a Labour sympa- thiser and former MEP, who is today the non-resident ambas- sador to Sweden and Norway. Mizzi's accusation should not have been brushed off lightly, or dismissed by the prime minister and others in leadership positions within the Labour Party. And yet, that is what hap- pened, only for the bomb to explode several weeks later with all the collateral damage that comes with it. It would seem the days of pro-active decision-making based on an expectation of political accountability have long vanished, which is a pity because this country deserves much better. Galdes, misplaced loyalties and accountability maltatoday MaltaToday, MediaToday Co. Ltd, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR: KURT SANSONE EDITOR: PAUL COCKS Tel: (356) 21 382741-3, 21 382745-6 Website: www.maltatoday.com.mt E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt 11 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 28 JANUARY 2026 EDITORIAL It would seem the days of pro- active decision-making based on an expectation of political accountability have long vanished, which is a pity because this country deserves much better