Unreformed, unrepentant and unashamed – Jacques Rene Zammit

Robert Abela has chosen to force through his choice for Standards Commissioner, not having reached an agreement with the Opposition. The reason for resorting to strong-arming the decision boiled down to an uncollaborative and deceitful Opposition, according to Abela and his backers on the government benches.

He went further, claiming that the incumbents in both the position of Standards Commissioner and the Ombudsman had been somehow manipulated from the outside.

Abela relies very much on not-so-subtle implications in order to deliver his spin. He is not so good at being direct and naming names but rather revels in mudslinging in the hope that some of it will stick. He took some time to let off a side shot at the magistracy, again by implication. Again, incorrectly shifting the consequences of executive maladministration onto other pillars of the republic.

The more this government tries to distance itself from the corrupt and unaccountable mess that it is responsible for, the deeper the hole it digs. The Vitals saga continues unabated, and we are still seeing an executive that is unwilling to bear any form of responsibility.

Even the actions following the Depasquale judgment leave much to be desired. There is neither remorse nor any attempt to reach real accountability.

This should have been the government of reforms – driven by the Venice Commission reports. Instead, we have a government holding on for dear life. One that undermines the institutions that should strengthen accountability.

“Let the institutions work” risks becoming a sick and overused mantra while the hidden appendix that goes “so long as we are not held accountable” becomes more and more the elephant in the room.

In all this, the pressure of the oppositions (a deliberate plural) is paramount. On every front of the battle for normality, there is a relevant part of civil society (and I include the parties in opposition) that can contribute to the necessary momentum for change.

Rather than bickering, they would do better to pool resources. It’s an age-old cliché, but the people united are our only hope.

The clock is ticking and change will wait for no one. Our forums of representation should be debating how we are to tackle the problems we shall face in the future – economic, environmental and social.

Instead, we must deal with a juggernaut of corrupt, old-style politics inherited from the PLPN algorithm. The juggernaut can only be defeated through a unity of purpose, if not of ideals.

Ten years of Labour government have become a struggle for the rule of law to be repristinated. The reforms promised earlier in Abela’s tenure are nowhere to be seen. Even the changes to the regulation of the fourth pillar are mired in deceit and lack of proper consultation.

This government can never be trusted to spearhead the reforms needed.

Change, if and when it comes, will be painful. We must first realise that it is our duty to kick it off.