Our institutions and political system serve monied interests
At a press conference today in Valletta, ADPD – The Green Party Chairperson, Carmel Cacopardo said:
The report of the public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia is crystal clear: high officials in the country’s top posts, including Cabinet of Ministers, bend over backwards to serve monied interests instead of the country. They feel that they can get away with anything and that they are above the law. The report also confirmed the inherent weakness of the Maltese state, a state based on the minimum possible trappings of a democracy.
We live in an almost dictatorial system where the Government and the Prime Minister are akin to Kings, who can do whatever they deem fit. We have a rubber-stamp Parliament, which is in fact the servant of the Government instead of an institution that regulates and monitors Government.
In this particular case, the Labour Party and its Members of Parliament have a lot to answer for. They let Joseph Muscat do whatever he wanted, they let him roll out the carpet for big financial interests and lobbies. They let him turn the Government and the party into servants of these interests with dire consequences.
The closeness between PLPN and big business is nothing new. During the speeches in the debate in the Parliament yesterday however, none of the Members of Parliament brought up this issue even though it is mentioned clearly in the inquiry report. No one mentioned that the inquiry highlighted how big business and capital circumvent laws and policies, and control PLPN and state institutions.
It is pertinent to remember that Leo Brincat, during the hearing in the European Parliament, prior to his appointment as a member of the Court of Auditor, Edward Scicluna, now Governor of the Central Bank and Evarist Bartolo, today Minister of Foreign Affairs, all declared that they continued to support Muscat because they cared more about their political career rather than the country. This is the way tribal politics works: suck up to the boss. In Malta we have a corrupt system, full of politicians who prefer a pact with the mafia than to work for the common good and do what is right. We also have an expert in tax evasion who today he leads the PN. This too is impunity, which seems to be acceptable to lots of people in Malta.
It is now up to the Police to immediately gather evidence for those who are complicit with the mafia to pay for their actions. It is also up to Parliament to scrutinize the recommendations of the inquiry and implement them without delay. It is worth mentioning that some recommendations have been made by various organizations over the years, including by our party.
It is clear that Parliament has failed to do its job: that of holding Government to account. A two-party parliament cannot do this effectively because one side has the power to roll over the other without the need for discussion.
In the interests of a strong democracy, accountability and good governance it is essential to have a third party in Parliament.
***
Istituzzjonijiet u sistema politika fl-interessi tal-flus
Waqt konferenza stampa illum il-belt Valletta, Carmel Cacopardo, Chairperson ta’ ADPD – The Green Party qal:
Ir-rapport tal-inkjesta pubblika dwar l-assassinju ta’ Daphne Caruana Galizia huwa ċar daqs il-kristall: uffiċċjali fl-għola kariga tal-pajjiż, inkluż fil-Kabinett tal-Ministri qdew l-interessi tal-flus qabel dak tal-pajjiż, u jħossu li ma jista’ għalihom ħadd u li għandhom xi dritt li jagħmlu li jridu mingħajr rispett tal-liġi. Ir-rapport jixhed ukoll d-dgħjufija tal-istat Malti, ibbażat fuq demokrazija minima, sistema kważi dittatorjali fejn il-Gvern u l-Prim Ministru jsiru qishom xi Re li jgħaddu bħall-gaffa minn fuq kulħadd, u fejn il-Parlament huwa fil-fatt il-qaddej tal-Gvern minflok istituzzjoni li tirregola lill-Gvern.
F’dal-każ partikolari l-Partit Laburista u l-Membri Parlamentari tiegħu għandhom ħafna xi jwieġbu. Ħallew lil Joseph Muscat jagħmel li jrid, ħallewh itejjeġ lill-Gvern u lill-Partit ma’ interessi finanzjarji kbar, anzi firxilhom it-tapit.
Il-viċinanza bejn il-politika tal-PLPN u d-dinja tan-negozju minn dejjem kienet. Waqt id-diskorsi fid-dibattitu fil-Parlament ‘ilbieraħ l-ebda Deputat, mill-ebda naħa ma semma din il-kwestjoni, avolja msemmija ċar daqs il-kristall fl-inkjesta. Ħadd ma semma li l-inkjesta emfasizzat kif negozjanti kbar u dawk li għandhom is-saħħa tal-kapital jduru mal-liġijiet, dejjem sabu t-tapit mifrux u jikkontrollaw l-istituzzjonijiet u l-partit PLPN.
Infakkru li kemm Leo Brincat, waqt il-hearing tal-ħatra tiegħu bħala membru tal-Qorti tal-Awdituri tal-UE, kif ukoll Edward Scicluna, issa Gvernatur tal-Bank Ċentrali u Evarist Bartolo, illum Ministru tal-Affarijiet Barranin, ma stħawx jiddikjaraw li komplew jappoġġjaw lil Muscat biex ma jkunux ħrief tas-sagrifiċċju u għax Malta, minħabba l-politika marida taż-żewġ partiti l-affarijiet hekk isiru. Xandru ma’ kullimkien li f’Malta għandna sistema korrotta mill-għeruq, mimlija politiċi ġifa li jippreferu patt mal-mafja milli li jaraw li jsir dak li hu sew. Infakkru kif li hawn min huwa espert fl-evażjoni tat-taxxa imma qisu xejn m’hu xejn, anzi illum imexxi l-PN. Anke din hija impunità.
Issa sta għall-Pulizija biex minnufih tiġbor il-provi biex min huwa kompliċi mal-mafja jħallas ta’ għemilu. Sta wkoll għal Parlament li jgħarbel sew r-rakkomandazzjonijiet tal-inkjesta u jattwahom bla dewmien. Ta’ min isemmi li xi rakkomandazzjonijiet ilhom isiru minn diversi organizazzjonijiet fosthom mill-partit tagħna.
Dan kollu seta’ jkun possibli għax il-Parlament naqas milli jagħmel xogħolu: jgħarbel lill-Gvern u jinsisti li jagħti kont ta’ għemilu. Parlament ta’ żewġ partiti dan ma jistax jagħmlu għax naħa għandha s-saħħa li tirrombla fuq l-oħra mingħajr il-ħtieġa li tiddiskuti.
Fl-interess tal-kontabilità vera, ta’ demokrazija b’saħħitha u tal-governanza tajba huwa essenzjali li jkollna t-tielet partit fil-Parlament.
