Indeed, grazzi ministru!

Of course, politicians are expected to be close to their constituents.

Of course, politicians are expected to listen to the concerns and problems of people who get in touch with them.

Of course, politicians have to act on the complaints and problems that come their way.

But politicians are also expected to act with fairness and to uphold the rule of law at all times.

So, if a father goes up to the minister and asks him to help his son in his driving test, the politician should ask himself what exactly the father is expecting of him.

In this case, the ask is pretty simple to interpret: ‘help my son pass his driving test.’ Because what other way is there for the minister to help this individual? The answer is simple: None.

Illiterate people are already helped as a matter of procedure during the theory test. And in the practical session, unless the instructor grabs the candidate’s steering wheel or presses the brake pedal, or simply closes their eyes to any faults – all in breach of rules – there is no other way how to help a candidate.

So, when Ian Borg claims he simply passed on the requests he received to Transport Malta and always expected them to act within the parameters of the law, he is being disingenuous.

How did Ian Borg expect his point man at TM to actually help the persons indicated in the WhatsApp chats?

The answer to every right-thinking individual is pretty obvious - the TM official should do his best to ensure the person passes his driving test at all costs or bump them up the queue.

And that is not only unfair and illegal but downright dangerous because we potentially have on the road people with a licence to drive when in normal circumstances they would have failed the test.

So, when the Prime Minister says Ian Borg and all customer care officials indicated in the scandal exposed by The Times acted as they should because it is their job to be close to people, he is insulting people’s intelligence.

Robert Abela’s puerile defence is to lump all complaints, concerns, problems and requests into one basket to obfuscate the gravity of the driving licence racket.

There is a big difference between someone approaching a politician to seek guidance on how to access a public service or complain about inefficiencies in public entities and someone who expects to be given preferential treatment during a driving test or be bumped up the queue.

Unfortunately, Abela’s cavalier attitude makes no distinction between people with genuine and legitimate concerns, and people who illegally expect preferential treatment.

Through his irresponsible statements Abela is simply eroding the basis of good faith and trust that should exist in a democracy.

People should not have to go to politicians with complaints about the public service. If public institutions are not delivering, slacking or unable to cope, it is the politician’s duty to enact change and ensure the right resources are available.

Politicians should be acting to solve problems for everyone and not bend the rules to serve those who have the audacity and contacts to approach them.

If Transport Malta’s testing system is inefficient and leaves candidates waiting for months on end to get an appointment then it should be reformed to ensure candidates do not have to wait for eternity. Indeed, the timeframes should be indicated and known to all.

If medical and surgical appointments are taking months to be made, government’s duty is to provide resources to cut waiting times. It is undignified for people in pain to have to go begging to politicians and customer care officials to get quicker appointments or simply ask when their treatment is due.

And if someone asks to pass the car driving test they should be sent packing because there are no grey areas in such circumstances – you are either good enough to pass the test or else you fail.

The attitude adopted by the Prime Minister, his ministers and Labour MPs is an insult to those care givers and parents who constantly tell their children to work hard and try their best to achieve their dreams in an honest and fair way.

Indeed, every honest citizen should stand up and shout: “Grazzi ministru!”