One resignation, more should follow
Yesterday, a major resignation was registered as a result of charges being filed over the Vitals inquiry.
Malta’s Deputy Prime Minister, Chris Fearne, has quit, with immediate effect, and has also withdrawn his nomination as Malta’s next European Commissioner. He said that nobody can be more certain than he is that the courts will find him innocent, but he believed that this is the right thing to do.
He will have every right to defend himself in court, but his position as a Minister, as a Deputy Prime Minister, was no longer tenable. He did the right thing given the circumstances. Others should follow.
Fearne has been accused of fraud and misappropriation after the conclusion of the magisterial inquiry into the Vitals deal, which saw the Government transfer three hospitals to the private sector.
The deal has since been rescinded after a court ruled it as having been "fraudulent".
Fearne said that he would have preferred if he had the magisterial inquiry itself in hand before acting, but because it seems like it will take some time, “it is not possible for me to keep waiting”.
“The country, and our democratic and European institutions, deserve nothing less”, he wrote.
We have yet to hear a similair statement being made by Edward Scicluna, the Governor of the Central Bank, who has not filed his resignation.
It is disgraceful to have public officials who face extremely serious charges retain such a high office, and Scicluna should take a page out of Fearne’s book on this one.
This week, we also saw action taken by a private institution. Joseph Rapa was removed from the APS board of directors after his name was among the list of people to be charged in court following the conclusion of the Vitals magisterial inquiry. “The bank now wishes to inform that it is in receipt of a letter dated 8 May 2024 whereby the Diocese of Gozo, as a Qualifying Shareholder, has decided to temporarily withdraw the re-appointment of Mr Joseph Rapa as director”, a company announcement by the bank says.
It will be up to the courts to determine whether those accused, which also include the likes of former Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, former Minister, Konrad Mizzi, and Muscat’s former Chief of Staff, will be found guilty of the charges against them or not. But for those who still hold public office, facing such serious charges means that they should not remain in their public posts, as it casts a shadow over their institutions.
At the same time, the Prime Minister, Robert Abela, needs to stop targeting the magisterial inquiry, is wrong. It is amazing that, instead of just saying that this is a serious situation for the country and that the courts will decide who is innocent and who is guilty, he continues to shed doubts on the inquiry. The Prime Minister should not forget that the hospitals deal was already annulled in a court judgement that used the term fraud.
By shedding doubts on the inquiry all Abela is doing is strengthening the arguments of those who might be guilty, and possibly intimidating those who still need to prosecute or hear the case.