Reflections on the Egrant conclusions

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his wife Michelle were vindicated on Sunday when the conclusions of the Egrant inquiry came out and cleared them of the claims that they held the third Panama company. They had always denied owning Egrant, a denial that has now been confirmed by the inquiry.

The Egrant claim, initiated by slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, and which rocked the country and was one of the reasons why an early election was called, has finally been disproven.

The 15-month inquiry, conducted by Aaron Bugeja, a magistrate of unquestionable integrity, found no shred of evidence to support the bombshell claims. Instead it found that evidence had been fabricated and key witnesses had contradicted each other.

The last year and a half was a trying time for Muscat and his family. A great weight has now been lifted off their shoulders.

As expected, the Labour Party has taken the findings of the inquiry as a great political victory, but the truth is that this is a victory for Muscat personally, not for his party. This is

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because his left and right hand men still remain mired in controversy, and are still the subject of separate magisterial inquires that are probing other allegations of corruption. Those allegations have a more solid base than the Egrant claim – they came from leaked FIAU reports.

One might also say that if Muscat felt that the mere suggestion that he had a Panama company was so bad – so bad that he called it the biggest lie in Malta’s political history and requested an inquiry – then the hard fact that Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi had opened companies in Panama deserves much more than the slap on the wrist that he gave them.

There is also the fact that we have only seen a small part of the inquiry report - 50 out of 1,500 pages, to be more precise. When reading those 50 pages it is quite clear that the other 1,450 contain some very interesting information. The conclusions about the PM and his wife will not change, but the overall scenario may not be the same as what is being portrayed now. A lot could change if and when the AG gives in to the demand to publish the report in full.

Some said that Muscat’s chances of taking an EU top job have now been restored. But the Egrant conclusions do not wash away Muscat’s inaction with regard to the Panama Papers duo, and it does not sweep the concerning money laundering scenario that is plaguing our financial sector under the carpet. So saying that he might yet take the EU council post might be a bit premature.

But, politics aside, there are lessons to be learnt by the media as well. The Egrant story has very clearly hurt the reputation of Maltese media houses, this one included.

It transpired that journalists were fed falsified documents, and trusted untrustworthy sources. One would have to see whether the sources intentionally lied or whether they were duped as well.

But this is not about finding a scapegoat. The media in Malta needs to exercise a much greater level of vigilance, especially with stories that are very hard, if not impossible to prove.