Joseph Muscat’s fading memory – Kevin Cassar

Joseph Muscat confirmed that nobody should believe a word he says. He was caught contradicting himself live. Faced with evidence of his inconsistency, Muscat flew into a rage.

“I can take you anytime, any day, anywhere,” Muscat challenged the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.

Muscat testified that he found out about Konrad Mizzi’s secret financial structures “when it emerged in the public domain”.  But on 24 February 2016, Muscat told the press he got to know from Mizzi’s draft declaration of assets, which only he had seen.

PN MP Robert Cutajar picked up Muscat’s contradictions and challenged him. He confronted Muscat with the 2016 Times article in which a video clip shows Muscat stating the exact opposite of what he’d just testified before the committee.

That video clip is precious. Journalists challenged Muscat about Mizzi’s secret financial structures.  Clearly annoyed, Muscat deflected the question. “We are a Party for everyone. The Labour Party is the party of work, workers, employees, middle class, everybody, pensioners, youths…” he had said.

When pressed, he leapt to Mizzi’s defence. “The fact that a politician declares he will be keeping his assets in a trust is not a problem.  It would be a problem if, like Austin Gatt, he had a Swiss account and forgot to declare it”.

The journalist wasn’t put off: “Doesn’t it worry you that your second-in-command, who controls all of Malta’s multi-million projects, Electrogas, the hospitals, sets up a company in a secretive jurisdiction?”.

“If he declares it, I have no problem,” Muscat retorted.

The million-dollar question followed.  “When did you find out?”

Muscat’s furrow deepened. His forehead veins bulged prominently. He froze. “I found out about it around… (long pause)… some weeks ago when I saw the draft of his declaration of assets that will be tabled next March”.

We’d seen those bulging veins, that deep furrow before. It was in November 2019, in the midst of Muscat’s catastrophic implosion. Jacob Borg asked Muscat when he’d last met Yorgen Fenech. That was caught on video too.

Muscat looked up at the sky, paused for what felt like an eternity and then messed up badly. “One year ago, I think… but I’m not sure… or two years ago.  What’s today? Where are we?  We are… what? November, November. I think one year ago.  I meet people from… all businesses (shrugs) I meet everybody.”  Sheer panic.

Of course, Muscat’s version was false.  He’d met Yorgen Fenech in February at Muscat’s exclusive birthday party at Girgenti.

That same panic was visible on Muscat’s face as Robert Cutajar exposed the falsity of Muscat’s testimony at the Public Accounts Committee on 27 June.

Muscat backtracked frantically.  He blamed the passage of time, that he wasn’t prepared for those questions and that his memory was failing him.  Finally, he admitted that what he told the committee was false. “If I made a mistake today, I’ll state I made a mistake, if my memory isn’t failing me… if I made a mistake in that date (sic), I’m sorry”.

Muscat wasn’t being asked what he ate for breakfast. He was asked about the most calamitous event in his premiership – the Panama Papers’ Konrad Mizzi revelations. That single event was the beginning of the end for Muscat.

That event must be etched indelibly in his mind. It crushed Muscat’s dream of a top EU post. It shattered his illusion of invincibility. It drove him out of office in disgrace.

Muscat’s inflated ego led him to believe he could outsmart the whole nation forever. He thought himself too clever to get caught. When you lie as profusely as Muscat, it’s difficult to keep track of your lies. It’s only a matter of time before you start making the mistakes he made live at the parliamentary committee.

Muscat is unravelling his own carefully spun tales.  Those who tell the truth don’t struggle to remember what they’ve said.  You don’t need to look at the sky and pause, desperately trying to recall your lies from years before.

There are only two options left for even the most diehard of Muscat’s fans. The first is to accept Muscat is a serial liar.  That he lied when he said he knew about Mizzi’s Trust from his draft assets declaration, or he lied when he stated he found out when the story surfaced.

The second option is to continue believing Muscat is an honest, sincere gentleman, that Muscat is not a liar, but that at the tender age of 49, he’s completely forgotten some of the most crucial events from just seven years earlier. You’d have to believe Muscat’s memory is fading.

And that’s serious. It means none of his testimony can be relied on – whether at the PAC or in court during ongoing investigations and those that will inevitably follow. Anything he says to judges and magistrates must be discarded. It’s worthless.

It also has implications for those rushing to recruit him for his “valuable consultancy”. The man’s memory is so bad he’s messing up. Would you trust him with important decisions for your company? If you want to wreck your brand, employ Muscat, the man who wrecked everything –  his premiership, his Party, and his country.

No wonder his own Party won’t touch him with a barge pole.  He’s relegated to cranky monologues from his backyard or potty interviews with Manuel Cuschieri on Smash TV.

Muscat’s memory isn’t fading. He remembered precisely when Brian Tonna’s Nexia BT completed his income tax returns – between 2004 and 2008.  Muscat clearly remembered nominating Lara Boffa to sit on the Electrogas board. Muscat’s memory is crystal clear.  It’s his truth-telling that’s deficient.

His lies are catching up with him.  That’s why he’s so angry. His serenity has evaporated.

It’s only his deep furrow, his bulging veins and his flashes of temper that we see.  The parrot consultant yelled, “I am not here to be your parrot”. “I can take you anytime, any day, anywhere,” he threatened.

Lying took him to the top. Now it’s taking him to the bottom.