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10 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 11 JUNE 2017 News PAUL COCKS PRIME Minister Joseph Muscat will next Wednesday face the Eu- ropean Parliament in a debate that takes on Malta's state of rule of law in the context of the Panama Pa- pers. Many MEPs will have to contend with Muscat's second major land- slide victory, whose unprecedent- ed majority of 35,000 votes seems to put to shade concerns that the Panama Papers and a corruption allegation which he put to a mag- isterial inquiry, would cost him his government. One German MEP, Sven Giegold of the Greens, seemed incredulous at the election result. "Normally, when there are extreme govern- ments, things get corrected in an election," he said. "Here what strikes me most is that the govern- ment was not only not sanctioned in the election, but has once again won a landslide victory." Giegold is one of the Green members in the Panama Papers committee that interviewed min- ister Konrad Mizzi and sought the attendance of chief of staff Keith Schembri, both having opened se- cret offshore companies in Pana- ma. "It is highly unusual that the par- liament openly meets to discuss the behaviour of a government and the state of the rule of law in a member state," he said. "In fact, we have only done this once when we had a similar debate on Viktor Orban and what was happening in Hungary," Giegold said of the up- coming debate. Giegold acknowledged that he was aware that Mizzi and Schem- bri had been once again chosen by Muscat to serve during this admin- istration – the first as minister for tourism while the latter was con- firmed as chief of staff within the Office of the Prime Minister. Schembri is also currently the subject of two magisterial inquiries into allegations of graft and money laundering, while Muscat him- self was the subject of a separate inquiry into claims that his wife Michelle is the ultimate beneficial owner of a third secret Panama company – Egrant. The claim has been strongly denied by Muscat, who vowed to resign if any such link is proven. Giegold said that he firmly be- lieved there was still time for Mal- tese democracy to save itself and take charge of the situation. "Malta's parliament could start by setting up a commission to in- vestigate the claims and the gov- ernment's response," he said, "al- though I realise this is difficult to do in Malta's bi-party reality." He said he could not understand why the Opposition itself had not recommended such an investiga- tion – despite having a strong case to do so – and suggested that civil society too could perhaps lead an inquiry into the matter. "A prop- er investigation would serve as a tool for public healing in Malta, because healing comes through truth," Giegold told MaltaToday. "Unfortunately, Malta's bipolar party system makes it very difficult for the search for truth to be suc- cessful in Malta." The German MEP admitted that the European Parliament had no authority to force Muscat or Malta down a certain path. "We only have a moral authority and we can only suggest that Malta search for a way to find the truth in these matters," he said. Giegold said he hoped Muscat would agree on Wednesday to present a full plan laying out how he intended to deal with the alle- gations and with those involved in the Panama Papers scandal. Ana Maria Gomes, a Portuguese MEP member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Demo- crats which includes Labour MEPs, confirmed that the debate would focus on politically-exposed per- sons, as well as governance in Mal- ta, its tax regime and anti-money laundering enforcement. "MEPs are expecting clarifica- tions from the Prime Minister on these issues and an opportunity for MEPs to expose their views," the socialist MEP said. Gomes said that if she did get to address Muscat on Wednesday, she will express her dismay over Malta's sale of citizenship, which she believes can be a vehicle for money laundering, and the ways Malta is being used by foreign PEPs like Isabel dos Santos as a platform to invest in other countries and possibly launder illicit assets. "On the Panama Papers rev- elations, I will also request to PM Muscat to ensure that no one in- terferes with the police and pros- ecutors' investigations," she said. MaltaToday also reached to Mal- tese MEPs Alfred Sant, Miriam Dalli, Roberta Metsola and David Casa, but the only response – Dal- li's – was short and to the point. "As to the scope of the debate and what is expected out of it, I suggest that you direct these questions to the PN MEPs who form part of the EPP, which pushed really hard for this debate to be put on the agenda even before the general elections in Malta," she told MaltaToday. "I do have an opinion on their reasoning behind this, but at this point this would be only an assumption from my end." Dalli insisted her political group was proud of the Maltese Partit Laburista, the positive achieve- ments and progress it had regis- tered in our country and also the way that Malta was leading the Presidency of the Council of the European Union during the past six months. "We showed that a small country can achieve great results through its hard work, energy and determi- nation," she said. pcocks@mediatoday.com.mt X Muscat now faces MEPs in debate on rule of law On Wednesday, MEPs will line up to put their questions to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on his country's follow-up on the Panama Papers and the rule of law: some sparks will fly… Left: German MEP Sven Giegold and top, Portuguese MEP Ana Gomes, both members of the PANA committee and critics of Malta's handling of the Panama Papers scandal What strikes me most is that the government was not only not sanctioned in the election, but has once again won a landslide victory – Giegold