Not business as usual

In Parliament on Monday, Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia finally broke his silence on the November shooting incident. In so doing, he gave the impression that he may not yet have understood the seriousness of his situation.

Mallia has been under pressure in recent weeks, after allegations that a crime scene had been tampered with by the police. The specific details need not be repeated here, but they concern the actions of Mallia’s personal driver, Constable Paul Sheehan, who has now been charged with the attempted homicide of Scotsman Stephen Smith following an apparent altercation over a traffic accident.

Sheehan is understood to have fired at least two shots into Smith’s car, but from the outset the incident has been clouded by suspicious anomalies.

On the day itself, this newspaper received a call from Mallia’s chief of staff to ‘correct’ an earlier online report suggesting that the shots fired by Sheehan had hit the car. However, later evidence confirmed that the first report was indeed correct.

Since then, there have been new anomalies arising from this case almost every day. It was later established that Smith’s car had been moved from the crime scene before the arrival of the inquiring magistrate. More suspiciously still, Smith’s arrest details have since been erased from the police computer.

The plot is clearly thickening, and it is fast becoming clear that this was no ordinary hit-and-run accident. Some people connected with this episode clearly have something to hide; and they also have access to police intelligence. It doesn’t help Mallia’s case that data security also falls under his political remit.

Both the shooting itself and the cover-up allegations are now subject to two inquiries – a magisterial inquest, and an independent inquiry set up by the Prime Minister in reply to the cover-up allegations by the Opposition. Mallia himself is also the subject of an Opposition motion of no confidence.

Prime Minister Muscat has so far resisted taking any decision, arguing that the inquiry (which has been given two weeks to reach a verdict) must be concluded before the Opposition’s motion can be discussed in Parliament. Yet the fact remains that one of his ministers is compromised by the same inquiry.

Clearly this places Muscat and his government in an unexpected and embarrassing quandary. The word ‘crisis’ may be an exaggeration, but the Sheehan shooting case is arguably the biggest political challenge Muscat has had to face since the March 2013 election.

Yet despite the seriousness of the situation, Mallia’s public response on Monday seemed hell-bent on giving the impression that everything was ‘business as usual’.

Taking only a few minutes to allude to the incident, Mallia defiantly stuck to the traditional line of defence: arguing that the opposition was ‘trying to stop him from serving the country’.

“A lot was said on this case but there was also destructive criticism where I was accused of covering up the case. I asked no one to cover up what happened… but I will have enough time to talk about this during the motion,” a bullish Mallia added. 

The implications are that Mallia intends to weather the storm in the knowledge that the Opposition motion is doomed to fail, given his government’s unassailable nine-seat majority in the House. If this is the case, the tactic is virtually indistinguishable from that used by past Nationalist administrations when rallying around a beleaguered colleague. This is not in itself surprising: we have come to expect this administration to deflect all criticism by referring to past PN mistakes.

But a mistake it would remain, even if committed by Labour. For the controversy in question goes well beyond partisan politics. Implicit in proceedings is nothing less than a loss of public trust in the police force, which is now the subject of multiple internal and external inquiries.

Paradoxically, one would have to go back to the 1980s to find suitable analogies… a fact which Mallia himself cited in his speech:

“I was there with you in the 80s fighting abuse and violence and you can rest assured that, as the minister responsible for the disciplined forces, I will not let my country go back to those wrong times...”

It is a strange thing to say, given that the entire incident was alarming precisely because it reminded many people of the troublesome moments of yesteryear. But the analogy is unfortunate also because the 1980s were characterised by an inability of politicians to shoulder political responsibility. And this is where Mallia, and other MPs who may think likewise, may be misjudging the national mood.

Labour’s own victory in 2013 was the product of a shift in popular attitudes towards politics. The electorate responded to a well-organised campaign based on (among other things) accountability. And by deserting the PN in record numbers, the electorate also demonstrated that the old political hegemony is no more: politicians can no longer rely exclusively on family or traditional allegiances.

Expectations of politicians have also been revised. Muscat’s government may well have the political strength to survive a no confidence motion in Mallia. But sooner or later, the Prime Minister will have to ask himself if the cost of such a ‘victory’ is too high.