A hope for change
Christmas has passed and the road to the New Year begins, but what exactly does Malta have to look forward to?
Well, for one, the hope that the new Prime Minister, whoever he may be, will be able to start cleaning up the appalling mess left by the outgoing Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who defended the indefensible for years. With a New Year comes a New Year’s resolution, and promise of change. Here are but a few ideas for the eventual winner of the PL Leadership race – Chris Fearne or Robert Abela – to focus on in order to get Malta back on track, and not be a black spot on the EU. The new Prime Minister would need to clean house, clean up any interior messes, get rid of those who are tainted by the shroud of corruption and ensure that they never come close to a public post again.
The new Prime Minister needs to strengthen the institutions, and not just in a cosmetic manner. They need to change the way police commissioners are appointed because people have lost trust in the appointment system.
The way members of the judiciary are appointed also needs to be amended - too much power lies in the hands of the Prime
Minister. In addition, the courts, as an institution, should be given more financial freedom.
A devolution of powers from Castille is needed, and Parliament needs to play a stronger role. In order for this to happen, among other things, the Office of the Prime Minister’s grip on the backbenchers needs to be eliminated, and as such, backbenchers should not be allowed to be appointed to public boards and should not be able to be appointed as a person of trust. An MP on the Planning Authority Board, for example, cannot be expected to scrutinise the board or a planning application, even if doing so would mean they would be fighting for the national interest, as they would be prejudicing the idea of a fair process.
The new Prime Minister needs to go through the several contracts in which corruption has been alleged over the years, and where questions have arisen, must ensure that the proper authorities investigate. The FIAU should be given more powers, given that there have been several concerns in the past that the police just sit on a number reports filed by the former, not doing anything.
The Planning Authority needs an overhaul. Too long has it been seen to be in the pockets of developers, and too long has this country’s environment and skyline suffered as a result. Malta is over-developed, much stricter controls, less leeway needs to be given in terms of development.
The new Prime Minister needs to change the way public contracts are handled. Over the past years trust in the government’s handling of major deals has deteriorated due to allegations of corruption. Perhaps more transparency in major deals is needed, and all information about such agreements need to be published, in full, and not with large parts redacted as has been the case in the past.
The new Prime Minister will need to conduct a Cabinet reshuffle, and those who have been at the centre of scandal should not be given government posts.
These are but a few things the new Prime Minister should do if he intends to change the direction Malta has been heading in, and if he does not, Malta will remain to be shrouded in concern and division.