Who will wield power in 2013?

OMG so much drama on the local scene this year. The judiciary are once again tainted by corruption and unethical behaviour and once again one wonders whether the members of the Commission for the Administration of Justice are actually living on this planet and what on earth the Commission is there for.

It was amusing to see the contretemps that arose between the Ombudsman Joseph Said Pullicino, a former Chief Justice and the Commission. The latter took umbrage that the Ombudsman called on the President and the Chief Justice to relieve judge and Maltese Olympic Committee president Lino Farrugia Sacco of his judicial duties.

 It said the Ombudsman’s Act did not apply to the judiciary and the Commission, so the Ombudsman did not have jurisdiction on the functions, duties and conduct of judges and the Commission and he did not have the power to give an opinion on this. This was solely within the functions of the Commission.

The Ombudsman’s call obviously indicated that the Commission was slumbering, hence it’s reaction. Don’t step on our toes, cause we are solely responsible for the conduct of judges, said the CAJ, which is made up of judges and former ones, magistrates and prominent lawyers.

It is about time that this particular closed shop opens up if it is to regain credibility in its function. Without going into the ins and outs of the Ombudsman’s opinion that caused this squabble, I found it incredulous that the Commission said “he (Said Pullicino) did not have the power to give an opinion on this.” Does one need to have power to give an opinion?

Moving on, we had the Dalligate saga, which is still unravelling, but it will be difficult for John Dalli to recover from this last blow, and the government having to step down after failing to get the budget through parliament, thanks to one if its own, as had happened when Dom Mintoff brought Alfred Sant down.

Mintoff that maverick of Maltese politics passed away and it was refreshing to see former PM and President Eddie Fenech Adami say that Dom’s

positive contribution to the nation outweighed the negative.

The Nationalist Party (PN) has had a stormy year what with the Arriva grand fiasco, with Boris Johnson telling his party conference, in the UK, that thankfully they had got rid of the dinosaurs that are now clogging the streets of Malta, and the serious discontent on the backbenches.

The latter resulted in Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando finally leaving the party and that rottweiler Franco Debono being told he was no longer wanted after his constant nipping. He of course got his revenge by bringing the government down.

Now both parties are pulling out all the stops in the race to head a new government. First, we saw Simon Busuttil (MEP) called in to perform a rescue operation for the PN and now the Labour Party has also called on Louis Grech, another MEP and former chairman and CEO of Airmalta, to help them accrue more credibility, in Joseph Muscat’s words “a value-added for the party and the country”.

I have admired the work and sophistication of both Louis Grech and Simon Busuttil in Brussels and it was refreshing to see how well the two worked together. But after Simon’s call (echoing Churchill’s in the last world war) to his party’s faithful to fight them at the grocers (instead of the beaches, it is winter after all), I am full of misgivings.

I know that the PN are desperate, but I would have thought that Simon would have retained the elegance and cool he displayed so well in Brussels. Unfortunately, he got sucked in to the local panic and lost it. But, I have no doubt that he will regain some of the ground for his party.

I understand that both MEPs have responded to “your party needs you” and maybe they are looking for more fame, glamour and glory in the pond. They also might have felt that after Dalligate their undoubted positive influence in Europe would lose its effectiveness until that whole shebang was sorted out.

We shall still have to see whether Louis, who has laid emphasis on change, which will lead to the strengthening of accountability and transparency, will retain his urbanity on the campaign trail.

Of course there are some politicians on both sides who hold themselves above the fray, but it is so embarrassing to see the infantile and bullying tactics some get up to. It will be great to see a new breed of politician on the local scene, so I hope that Simon will regain his equilibrium and Louis will maintain it.

Published in The Malta Independent on Sunday  30/12/2012