Malta suffocated by a crescendo of unethical and unacceptable behaviour by one government after another
Regarding the latest developments regarding the highly unethical and suspect behaviour of public office holders, AD Chairperson, Prof. Arnold Cassola, said: “It is all an issue of a long and chequered history of bad and unethical behaviour on the part of exponents of the Nationalist party, which has continued today with a supposedly ‘different’ Labour Party government.”
“The mentality is alas very similar – a crescendo of unethical behaviour which raises many questions which remain unanswered. We had former Ministers, some of whom are still members of parliament, whose unethical behaviour was brushed off with the usual excuse that there is no proof of corruption.”
“This happened with the damning conclusions in the Auditor’s report about the BWSC power station. It happened when Ministers took gifts from and holidays with prominent businessmen and messed around with emissions legislation to favour a particular company. It happened when Tonio Fenech failed to take responsibility for the campaign money for favours racket his private secretary was found guilty off. What about the relatives and hangers-on of a former PN energy Minister whose behaviour in relation to oil procurement is highly suspect? Not to mention the scandalous way that the 2006 so-called ‘rationalisation scheme’ was handled to favour some people, the devastating effects of which are still being felt. We will not share the same stage with a party like the PN, that has a number of its exponents that preach one thing and then behave in an opposite way. We will not sacrifice our credibility and choose to remain consistent.”
“The Muscat government has continued the tradition of the suffocating PLPN duopoly which thrives of clientelism, unethical behaviour and the ‘scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ mentality. It has reached a level of arrogance which is unacceptable in a normal democracy. Muscat has failed to recognise the extremely unethical behaviour of Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri and should understand that his ‘there is no proof of corruption’ stance is something we have been hearing for years on end.”
AD Deputy Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo added:”PL and PN politicians know very well that unless those involved in corruption spill the beans, it is extremely difficult to prove it. That is why in normal democracies politicians are held to very high ethical standards. AD will continue in its fight against the unacceptable unethical behaviour of the Muscat government until Konrad Mizzi, Keith Schembri and, if necessary, Muscat himself are kicked out of their respective posts.”
“Civil society should unite and make clear that the only way forward is a rehaul of the political system. A good start would be demanding the immediate approval of the Standards in Public Life bill into law.”
