The foremost investigators in Italian journalism are in Malta or on their way. For them the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, so visually and morally reminiscent of the Strage di Capaci, is a story with layers and ramifications they have long suspected but feel they must now come here to prove.
Malta has over the last handful of years become a paradoxical irritant for the Italian political scene. Malta has no immigration problem because Italy carries that weight for us. Malta reserves rights over a stretch of sea the size of Britain but shirks responsibilities on the excuse of the limits of its resources. Malta charges its citizens low taxes but pays for any shortfall with the money paid by Italians (and others of course) avoiding higher tax rates in their home country.
Malta is a safe country where children play in the street at night but Mafiosi holiday here while hiding in plain sight. Mafiosi also hide from Italian investigators stashing their ill-gotten gains leaving crumbs around that are translated into l-aqwa żmien for the local population.
Italian commentators have figured out for a long time there’s something not quite right in this best of all worlds deal that we in Malta seem to be getting. Admittedly, Italian journalists are not particularly fond of the genius of their political class but what’s so almighty brilliant about the leaders of Malta who seem to be getting it right all the time?
With the Malta-leaks story on L’Espresso a few months ago we could start seeing how these Italian journalists were perceiving what was happening here.
Here’s another story about Malta used as a hub of fuel smuggling that undermines tax revenues for our European neighbours whilst profiting from the suffering of the Libyan people. The profound amoralism of indifference to the suffering of Libyans and the loss of tax revenue for the Italians has become a way of life, a perverse anti-ethical political philosophy.
Expect more of this.
Whilst we ignored Daphne Caruana Galizia’s warnings we could imagine the rest of the world would never mind the little we get away with in the big and global scheme of things. But our greed overtook us and we dug too deep.
This will not fly anymore. The inevitable reinvention of ourselves that would have had to happen anyway at some point has now become urgent for our survival. We are hitting the wall. And Joseph Muscat who drove us here must go before we can think of what to do next.
We will need to rebuild our country’s reputation. We must get our country back.