TMIS Editorial: Ditching the albatross
The albatross around Robert Abela’s neck is getting heavier, and it’s tightening its noose.The albatross carries the name of Joseph Muscat, who has not stopped causing problems to his successor. Not that he wants to. Muscat would prefer t
The albatross around Robert Abela’s neck is getting heavier, and it’s tightening its noose.
The albatross carries the name of Joseph Muscat, who has not stopped causing problems to his successor. Not that he wants to. Muscat would prefer to be in Dubai or Barbados rather than sitting in a courtroom for long hours at a stretch while his bunch of lawyers seek to find a way out for him.
But the past is catching up with the former Prime Minister as he, together with members of his former Cabinet and a long list of other people and companies are facing serious criminal charges following the conclusion of a magisterial inquiry into the now-rescinded hospitals’ deal.
This past week the court has ruled that enough prima facie evidence has been presented against Muscat and his co-accused (bar one company) for them to stand trial. This is another important step in the legal proceedings although, as we have always pointed out, the judicial system is based on the presumption of innocence and this must be respected.
Looking at the situation from the political – not legal – angle, it is clear that the prevailing situation has put extra pressure on the Labour government, in particular Prime Minister Robert Abela. The effects of the Joseph Muscat arraignment have already been seen in the outcome of the European Parliament and local council elections. The PL still won, but its lead has shrunk substantially. Labour is no longer in the comfortable position it was before 8 June.
The ruckus that was created by Labour supporters at the behest of prominent PL exponents outside the law courts in Valletta before the sitting in which Muscat was formally charged did not help Labour’s cause. That action brought back dark memories for many people. At least we are being spared repetitions now that sittings have gathered pace. It’s probable that Labour understood that it had everything to lose if such behaviour persisted, and the crowds have been persuaded to stay away.
Aside of all this, Abela finds himself in a quandary. He knows that the hospitals cases in court will take their political toll, and as much as he would like to create a distance between his government and what is happening before two magistrates, he is at the same time reluctant to do so for two reasons.
The first is that he and his government carry part of the blame because they continued to pump millions into the hospitals’ deal until it was stopped by a court judgment, and the second is that he cannot be seen as ditching Muscat.
Abela knows that when he took over the reins of the country from Muscat, with the hospitals’ deal already a few years in, he continued to sustain it, each year, with millions of euros. Budget after budget, the government announced that it was giving more millions of euros to the company that was running the three hospitals. It was only after a court ruling rescinded the deal, which it described as “fraudulent”, that the government stopped the practice, and tried to minimise the political damage that it had suffered. But by continuing the deal, Abela endorsed it.
Then, if Abela were to cut off the cord that joins him to Muscat he will be earning the praise of many, but he will lose the support of the Labour grassroots. For them, Muscat is a hero to be placed on a pedestal, not someone to be arraigned in court “after all the good he has done for Malta”. Abela cannot lose that support, more particularly now that he knows that Labour’s lead in popularity has diminished to a bare minimum.
But standing by Muscat will cost him too. Whatever action or non-action Abela takes with regard to his predecessor, he stands to lose. Too much support will mean fewer votes from people who shift allegiances in between elections and who are not blinded by partisan passion; but if he is seen to be pushing Muscat away, his grasp on the party will become weaker.
So far, Abela has remained on Muscat’s side through and through. He has resisted justified calls from the Nationalist Party to revoke privileges that Muscat was afforded after he resigned as prime minister.
The PN is insisting that that Muscat should no longer hold a diplomatic passport and should no longer be allowed to use government space in Sa Maison. Abela should not be treating “someone like Joseph Muscat as his political partner”, and instead should start considering him as “a person accused before the court of serious crimes”, the PN said.
In other words, the PN is again telling Abela to ditch Muscat, the albatross which has become heavier and is tightening its noose.
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