Apocalypse now!

No matter what I or anyone else think of Repubblika’s Robert Aquilina there is no doubt that his role as the factotum of this organisation and his efforts have contributed to uncovering political mischief of the highest order. 

I would have preferred if he had used the services of another lawyer; someone more serious and more respected, but so be it. And I would have preferred if he were around before 2013 campaigning with the same vigour. 

Political impropriety did not kick off in 2013; but yes, it did get rather bad after that. However, this cannot be held against Aquilina. And even though he often displays a prejudice against anything remotely linked to Labour, it changes nothing from the stark truth he has revealed. 

The Vitals deal was daylight robbery and the fact that the due diligence by one of Malta’s most reputable audit firms did not flag that the investors were a band of conmen beats me till this day. 

Aquilina has succeeded to kick start a process which has raised many pertinent questions and opened our eyes to what was happening behind the scenes. 

That the magistrate’s timing is questionable, could be mooted as a point. But does it change the content of her very costly inquiry? And since when did the Labour government or party expect to be treated with kids’ gloves by the courts? 

However, the thing that is worrying me, is that nobody is asking what the end game is. 

The fallout from this inquiry will not be microscopic, and the subsequent prosecution and potential incarceration of politically exposed persons will lead to tremors in the government, the Labour Party, the institutions, the private companies, the leading audit and legal firms… it will cause countrywide shock. It will also be harder for some to digest the findings when valuable politicians and administrators such as Chris Fearne and Edward Scicluna get caught in the collateral damage. It will anger and sadden people. 

Aquilina might say I have done my work, at a price, and I cannot control the tsunami and what follows afterwards. Justice has no soft edges. 

That is very true, but from where I am sitting, justice for the moment looks like a scene from a napalm bombing in the film Apocalypse Now. That tsunami may well be bigger than we could have ever imagined, especially if former prime minister Joseph Muscat is treated in the same way as other individuals who have been previously accused of money laundering. The number of individuals referred to in the inquiry raises the question whether this is bigger than it seems.   

Or are we reading it wrong? 

If it is that big, the backlash will be seriously damaging to the government and the Labour Party. And though this may not reflect itself in the June electoral result it will require some serious attention and surgery. 

Robert Abela has a difficult and challenging task ahead of him; close to mission impossible. He knows that this episode does not end here and he needs to take stock of the situation. He needs to realise that the solution to governing and taking the Labour Party to the next general election cannot happen without some constructive changes. 

He is now very conscious that the changes that need to take place have to reinvigorate the Labour Party and there will have to be some serious public reckoning, very much like the one that takes place behind closed doors. 

In an interview with sister newspaper Illum, Robert Aquilina states that the Labour Party should not be in government. The truth is that it still has the support of the majority of the electorate and short of installing a dictatorship the country has to respect the democratic process. On this end the question becomes one of how diligent and effective an Opposition is in promoting itself as a viable alternative. 

That the Nationalist Party cannot capitalise on these damaging episodes is a reflection of its inability to manipulate a situation. 

In his criticism of the timing of this inquiry, Abela has coined the words ‘the establishment’.  But if we had to be true to ourselves, the judiciary which I would imagine is part of this so-called establishment mentioned by Abela is as strong as it is today because it was given full autonomy in the reforms of the past 10 years. 

The other establishment which Abela refers to is basically those people who feel Labour should not rule at any cost. In our brief history of independence – after all we are only 60 years young as a country – we have always shown to be a nation that respects the electoral process with a few minor exceptions. 

Labour needs to take advantage of the 8 June result to change. It needs to admit openly to its own mistakes and to say it as it is. Otherwise it will only be a matter of time before the PN discover their messiah and put government to the test. 

And then the inevitable will happen and the natural replacement of one political formation with another will occur.