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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 JANUARY 2017 8 COMPARE the reaction of the Prime Minister to last year's report and the Labour media attempt to spin this year's report and you get the gist of how the corruption in- dex is spun in the local context. When last year in the wake of the Café Premier and Gaffarena scan- dals, Transparency International's Corruption Index surprisingly showed Malta climbing to 37th place from 43rd and scoring one point more than the previous year, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was quick to point out that "this is proof that the government is fac- tually fighting corruption." Using the same yardstick set by Muscat last year, the fact that Malta has now dropped 10 places and lost one point should be used as proof that the government is not "factually" fighting corruption. This time round it was the La- bour media which failed to use the yardstick set by Muscat last year. In a case reminiscent of what in the US is being dubbed as "alterna- tive facts" – One News described the report as one showing "a greater perception of corruption" in a year, which saw "great scan- dals", but awkwardly not the ones impacting the government but the opposition. After referring to scandals involving Tonio Fenech, Jason Azzopardi and Beppe Fene- ch Adami, it blames the opposi- tion's protests against corruption in the wake of the Panama papers for Malta's poor ranking. But while Labour is failing to live up to its leader's yardstick, the Na- tionalist Party's conclusion that the drastic change from Malta's ranking from 2015 to 2016 con- firms that the current government "is the most corrupt government in Malta's history," comes across as an exaggeration. Not surpris- ingly the party had issued no such statement when last year the same index showed Malta improving its ranking. For while it is true that Malta has slipped from 37 to 47th placing, its lowest level ever in the graft index, this drop can also be attributed to the fact that Malta was overtaken by six countries which normally fare better than Malta but which had not been assessed last year. For just as last year's improvement in rankings can be partly explained by a decrease in the number of countries included in the index (from 175 to 167), Malta's nosedive in this year's index coincided with an increase to 176 in the number of countries assessed. But irrespective of the method- ology used to compile the index, Muscat's decision to retain Kon- rad Mizzi as Minister – albeit one without a portfolio – did cast a shadow on the government's ethi- cal standards and may be reflected in the sharp drop in the score given to Malta by three out of the four organisations which assessed Mal- ta's score last year. Fodder for the opposition Ever since Alfred Sant started using the transparency index as a yardstick to measure PN graft in the mid-noughties, the corruption index has provided opposition par- ties with ammunition, whenever these showed a drop in rankings. In 2009 the Muscat-led Labour opposition did not shy away from linking a drop in Malta's ranking in the index to the ongoing con- troversy on the Delimara power station, arguing that Prime Min- ister Lawrence Gonzi was "simply not coming down hard enough on corruption", adding that his "blinkered approach" gave the impression that corruption was permissible. On that occasion the annual report by Transparency In- ternational had shown that Malta had slipped nine places. According to the PL, the govern- ment's postponement of a par- liamentary debate on the tender for an extension of the Delimara power station, which was mired in controversy, "further reinforced the perception of growing corrup- tion". But a year later, unexpectedly, Malta improved its ranking in Transparency International's ranking, going up to 37th position from 45 the previous year. On his part former PM Lawrence Gonzi was consistent in his insist- ence – even when Malta improved its ranking in 2010 – that he did not give much importance to this index because it was "only based on perception". But on that occa- sion he did feel the need to remind the opposition of the existence of the report which it conveniently ignored. Speaking in parliament Labour frontbencher (and now EU audi- tor) Leo Brincat recognized that Transparency International based its statistics on perception but, "contrary to what the Prime Min- ister (Lawrence Gonzi had said, perception was important," add- ing that "corruption had seeped through all institutions". Why Malta lost 10 places but only one point The score given to each country in the CPI aggregates data from 13 different assessments assembled by independent institutions, in- cluding country experts and busi- ness leaders. Malta's score was based on indi- cators from five reputable organi- sations. Countries rated by fewer than three agencies are not includ- ed in the index. This explains why each year a different number of countries are assessed. In reality one major reason why Malta has lost ground in this year's global index has nothing to do with Panamagate. That's because 2016 saw six new entrants in the index, which were not assessed last year: Barbados, Bahamas, Santa Lucia, Brunei, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, and Grenada which all have scored better than Malta. Bahamas, Domenica, Barbados and Saint Vincent and Grenadines were not included in the index last year, but had been included in the previous year's index. All four na- News Understanding Malta's In the year of Panamagate Malta dropped 10 places in the Transparency International corruption perceptions index, overtaken by a number of Caribbean nations, some of which were not included in last year's report. Beyond the inevitable political spin, what does Malta's nosedive in the global graft index really show? asks JAMES DEBONO Jobsplus would like to notify interested parties that Expression of Interests is being received for the lease of office space. The space required should be between 200 and 250 meters squared. The place should be in Valletta/Floriana. For further information, copies of the document can be downloaded free of charge from Jobsplus website www.jobsplus.gov.mt, under the section Resources – Tenders & Quotations. The reference number stated above should be stated on the sealed envelope. These are to be addressed to: The Executive Chairman Jobsplus, Head Office, Ħal Far BBG3000 Submissions are to be submitted at the tender box at the Jobsplus Head Office in Ħal Far by not later than 10am Friday, 24th February 2017. EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR THE LEASE OF OFFICE SPACE Reference Number: JP/EMP/EOI/03/17 Keith Schembri, Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Konrad Mizzi - the decision to keep him in the cabinet cast a shadow on the government's ethical standards