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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 10 DECEMBER 2014 3 in the bid to lure disgruntled Na- tionalists. But Mallia came with a baggage, a criminal law yer with a large cli- ent base, which exposed him to potential conf licts of interest. As a former president of the Ca- sino Maltese and legal representa- tive of Paceville nightclubs he had ties with a wide spectrum of inf lu- ence wielders in Maltese societ y. His credentials among tradi- tional PN voters were reinforced by his role because the criminal law yer had led the oral submis- sions in court, which acquitted Pietru Pawl Busuttil in 1987 fol- lowing a police frame-up for the murder of Raymond Caruana. In the 1970's Mallia held posts in the PN's section and district com- mittees in Sliema and in Gzira but never made it to the part y's list of election candidates. Mallia's electoral gamble paid off. In the election Mallia not only managed to get elected from two PN leaning electoral districts but became Labour's front runner on both districts, gaining 2,526 votes in the tenth and 2,950 in the ninth district. The lure of ex Nationalists People like Manuel Mallia, De- borah Schembri, Marisa Micallef and Cyrus Engerer proved to be more effective than any billboard or slogan in attracting former Na- tionalist voters. Yet in the case of both Mallia and Engerer, Muscat's choices were to backfire on his part y. In fact the fate of these two politi- cians underscores the contrast with the less accident-prone par- t y stalwarts and old timers like Evarist Bartolo, Leo Brincat and George Vella. While Engerer was withdrawn from standing as a candidate in last June's MEP elections after a court sentence found him guilt y on appeal in a case involving the dissemination of embarrass- ing photographs of a former boy friend, the latest episode exposes serious f laws in Mallia's politi- cal judgement, particularly in his choice of close collaborators. Apart from choosing Sheehan as driver, his chief of staff Silvio Scerri, another former National- ist, was also embroiled in vari- ous controversies during the past months. In August 2013 opposi- tion spokesperson Jason Azzop- ardi called for Scerri 's resignation after revealing a sworn declara- tion, which he claimed, showed that Scerri used a convicted criminal to fix a meeting with a wrongly accused man. The gov- ernment denied the charge. Explaining the PM's procrastination The Mallia case also exposes an- other f law in Muscat's pre elector- al strategy, namely the reliance on a personal rapport with the new converts, which is not mediated through official part y channels. In 2012 Mallia explained how he was given a front seat at the part y general conference soon after his new year's eve anointment and how he was called in by Muscat to discuss issues related to the controversial VAT charge on car registration. "Since then we kept regular contact by phone, e-mail and text messages, and we discuss a number of matters." The personal rapport between the Labour leader and Mallia could explain the Prime Minis- ter's procrastination in the last weeks when faced with calls for the Minister's resignation imme- diately after the shooting incident involving his driver. Initially the PM hinted that the Minister might not have been po- litically responsible for what had happened. The day after the incident, in- stead of suspending Mallia, Mus- cat limited himself to expressing "anger and disgust" at the driver's behaviour after meeting Mallia at Castille. The following Saturday Muscat hinted that the Minister might not be politically responsible for what had happened. "If the magisterial inquiry shows that Mallia knew of what was hap- pening or gave instructions to the driver, then there is political responsibilit y to carry. But if the driver acted on his own irrespon- sible initiative, the matter is dif- ferent," he told Ghandi Xi Nghid presenter Andrew Azzopardi on Radju Malta. Even in his reply to Simon Bu- suttil 's budget speech, Muscat praised Mallia for ridding the prisons of drugs. Moreover Mallia himself seemed to be under the impression that he would be exonerated by the in- quiry, declaring in parliament that he would answer questions on his role in the incident when the op- position's motion of no confidence is discussed in parliament. Days later he was given a hero's welcome in St George Square dur- ing an official public consultation meeting on the budget in what many interpreted as an organised show of support for the belea- guered minister. A promise of accountability Ironically one reason cited by Mallia in the 2012 interview for joining Muscat's movement was the promise of greater account- abilit y. "Where is the transparency in the way certain people in office perform their public duties? We now have a system where nobody is accountable for anything, and to add insult to injury – and this is becoming more obvious – that such persons who were or are not acting correctly in their public lives, are defended by the higher posts." Ultimately by raising the bar on accountabilit y before the election, Muscat had sealed Mallia's fate but his personal ties to the Minis- ter have resulted in procrastinat- ing an inevitable decision. It was this procrastination, which may have cost Muscat his honeymoon with the electorate even if his final decision was the correct one. Moreover the personal rapport between the two may make the separation a bitter pill to swallow for the ex Minister, as suggested by Mallia's refusal to resign de- spite being asked to do so by his Prime Minister. By provoking Mallia's ire Muscat may well be playing with fire even if the cost of not sacking him would have been even more devastating. News People like Mallia proved to be more effective than any billboard or slogan PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD