So a person chosen on the basis of trust by Minister Evarist Bartolo to work on the building of new schools has now been arraigned accused of collecting tangenti on the back of public procurement he was assigned to manage by Evarist Bartolo himself. And Minister Evarist Bartolo assumes no political responsibility. Nor, oddly, is [...]
Chris Said filed a motion in Parliament that asks the prime minister to set up a three-judge inquiry into the corruption and impropriety allegations made by Daphne Caruana Galizia (without exception). The three retired judges would be chosen by a two-thirds parliamentary majority and would be given the resources and the power to investigate and [...]
When the Panama scandal broke, Evarist Bartolo showed off his classics and reminded us the Romans used to quip there are laws for gods and laws for animals. Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi. Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri are the untouchable Joves but others must obey the laws for animals. But we learn not [...]
The International Federation of Accountants states in its code of ethics that auditors must be independent of their clients. By his own admission Brian Tonna owed his client, Keith Schembri, €100,000. That made him a debtor and by any definition you care to give that term a debt relationship, particularly of that scale, is a [...]
The author is not a journalist but as we re-examine the failings of our democratic institutions his words are a reminder that the press too has much to reflect upon: So there we had it. Malta's journalists out in force on 19 October in a much publicised show of force and unity, holding a commemoration [...]
John Dalli wrote today in The Times. Read his article before you read the below because mine is an attempt at distilling what he wants to say through the thick layers of bringing Mother Theresa, Pope Francis and God as witnesses for his character. Now that you’ve read it, please tell me I’m getting this [...]
Another pertinent analysis from Godfrey Leone Ganado: Adrian Hillman is in the news again. This may be the appropriate time to highlight the observations made by the FIAU in their leaked report regarding payments made through a host of companies beneficially owned by Keith Schembri and Adrian Hillman. The report states: The FIAU carried out [...]
The following is my article first published in the current issue of Money. It was written before the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia: To imagine that a significant and particularly sensitive industry like financial services can exist in a jurisdiction completely indifferent to the political context in which it must operate is unforgivably naïve. Financial [...]
Parliament is convening tonight to discuss an emergency motion by the Opposition to debate the situation in the country and presumably discuss the demands from civil society to remove the police commissioner and the attorney general. There’s a wider demand from civil society which seeks a shake-up of our constitutional model. It is not just [...]
In the midst of all that is happening, please take a moment to visit the Facebook page of Temple Rescue, an NGO seeking to prevent the destruction of pre-historic heritage near Mosta. Development there has been approved in spite of objections by experts who want to protect what is known and believe there could be [...]
The Prime Minister was reported in The Times saying yesterday “all those trying to make political mileage out of the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia would see it blow up in their face.” Although the defense that protesters are not interested in political mileage, merely political change, will not be heard, it is presumed Joseph [...]
Adrian Hillman made the press today. The Sunday Times reports “senior government officials recommended” his appointment to the Board of Trustees of the American University of Malta. The “recommendation”, for which read Keith Schembri exercising his political muscle and calling a favour from that white elephant on public land, materialised in Adrian Hillman’s appointment. But [...]
When the Charlie Hebdo attack happened, the prime minister of Malta flew to Paris to march in protest. When Daphne Caruana Galizia died, the prime minister of Malta flew to Dubai to sell passports. Here's another inconsistency. When a courageous young man protested alone on the steps of Castille to make a point about an [...]
Here is the prime minister of Malta challenged by the press to express his views on the consultant to his Minister Konrad Mizzi calling protesters in front of Castille whores. The fact that he had to be door-stepped by the press to express a view should, in a normal country, be a gross public relations [...]
It was right for Ryan Murdock to combine his tribute to Daphne Caruana Galizia with a reminder of the list of issues objective and expert opinion identifies as in need of urgent resolution. He quotes from the Transparency International report on Malta from last February published as the Egrant storm was brewing. * Notable integrity [...]
From my piece in The Sunday Times today: "We must show the world that we realise we have a problem and we are going to do something about it. Muscat and Delia should both resign. A cross-party coalition led, of course, by the Labour Party should form a government with a short mandate and a [...]
The authoritarian and populist repression perpetrated by the Joseph Muscat regime has now entered a new, ever uglier phase. The death of Daphne Caruana Galizia has removed from Labour’s sight the obvious focus of their derision and demagoguery, forcing them to scatter their attacks wider. Of the many things Daphne Caruana Galizia was wrongly accused [...]
The policeman heading the investigations into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia has over the past three years led investigations into five other car bombings. He solved none of them. There was the Marsaxlokk bombing of Darren Degabriele who died of his wounds after his car was bombed in June 2014. He was believed to [...]
The reports in the international media are starting to irk the prime minister's office. Keith Schembri's assistant, MP Alex Muscat, writing today in The Malta Independent, branded international press reports "biased" and "distorted". Because of course it is reasonable to expect that when a journalist is incinerated in a bomb, the press take a "balanced" [...]
