Arrogance unabated

At the time of writing, the sun had not yet set and the crowds, whatever they were to be, had still not begun gathering in Valletta to vent their frustration over the fact that the government is turning a consistently blind eye to the rampant allegations and revelations of corruption within its ranks.

Last night, it was mainly about the prime minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, after he pretty much admitted his guilt, at least in the eyes of many, when he dropped libel proceedings this week rather than take the witness stand, after having repeatedly failed to turn up for previous hearings when he had been summoned..

But as civil society at large and the Opposition descended upon Valletta, the sad fact of the matter was that we, as a nation, should really not be in this position in the first place, on a number of accounts.

No, the crowds in Valletta had no business being there last night because this situation should not even have cropped up in the first place – not in a Third World dictator’s worst nightmare, and certainly not in a modern democratic country where we should really know better, a lot better.

But, nevertheless, they were there because there are some things that just cannot be left to lie, in either sense of the word for that matter. But lie they do.

They lie through their teeth as they extract themselves from one sticky situation after another, and they let court cases lie low until the hammer finally falls and it comes time to actually take the witness stand and face all those uncomfortable questions they need to answer once they institute court proceedings.

Standard House, Birkirkara Hill, St Julian’s STJ 1149 T: (+356) 2134 5888 E: tmis@independent.com.mt Published by Standard Publications Ltd Editor: David Lindsay

You see, libel cases are something of a double edged sword when it comes to people such as Schembri: they are happy to try laundering their reputation by bragging about filing libel cases when they feel their honour has been impinged upon, but fail to follow through once push comes to shove and things get real.

Our sister daily edition earlier this week asked Schembri a number of questions about his balking and scampering from his own lawsuit, the one he filed against former opposition leader Simon Busuttil, who had cried foul and alleged corruption on Schembri’s part following manifold revelations about his private wheelings and dealings while being in the employ of the Office of the Prime Minister as chief of staff.

Schembri had fielded our questions, more or less, but there was one particular comment that rankled something awful. It was a comment that evidenced the arrogance the man has when it comes to being held to account.

Remember how he had refused to appear before the European Parliament’s PANA committee back in 2017, when he had been due to appear for a hearing but sent a messenger to chase the PANA chairman down in the street at the 11th hour just before the committee held its sessions in Malta?

In that letter, Schembri claimed exemption from the committee’s scrutiny since he was not an elected person and that his position in the administration of this fair land was one of trust.

The committee, outraged at the insolence, took the matter to the prime minister and demanded he use his ‘authority’ over Schembri and to force him to appear before the committee the following www.independent.com.mt month Strasbourg.

Needless to say, that never happened.

Back to this week’s comment, Schembri insisted with our newsroom that he indeed wants the truth to come out over his alleged financial indiscretions and, get this, “Proof that I want the truth comes from the fact I am giving evidence in front of inquiries requested by the same people who from time to time try to make a charade out of court proceedings.”

Now perhaps Mr Schembri did not get the memo on this one but when one is called before a magisterial inquiry to furnish evidence, it is not a matter of choice – irrespective of whether the inquiry is about you, as in Schembri’s case, or whether it is about someone else.

Not appearing before magistrates when summoned could land one in contempt of court, or worse, and rightly so.

But, then again, he had also refused to appear before a magistrate earlier this week and instead dropped the whole case when he was ordered inside the courtroom.

Why is he so shy, retiring and reclusive? This is a man who is running our country after all, should we not know him a little better and hold him accountable, or is he truly the most untouchable person in the country?

The answers to these questions are why last night’s protest will hardly even leave a dent in this kind of arrogance. But vent their anger and frustration, and protest people must, otherwise the Schembris of this country will have well and truly captured every facet of the state, including civil society itself if it begins to fall silent.