The title is borrowed from Mark Twain. Last Wednesday, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published its decision to grey-list Malta, thus putting it on the same scale as Zimbabwe, Syria, Uganda and Sudan. Malta is the first member state of the European Union to be added to the money-laundering grey-list which could cause serious [...]
In November 2019, I wrote to Michael Farrugia, then minister for home affairs, asking to visit detention centres operated by the government to detain migrants. He ignored me. He was busy accusing Repubblika activists of sedition at the time. A few weeks later, a new prime minister moved him away and replaced him with Byron [...]
I held back from writing about the FATF’s decision to grey-list Malta because others, more competent and more qualified in the subject matter than I am or will ever be, have explained in detail and will no doubt further amplify what brought us to this point, what awaits us and how to mitigate what awaits [...]
This satirical short story in Maltese was written by a friend of mine who cannot sign his name because of his workplace. Click the Maltese flag above or on this link to read it on the Maltese wing of this website.
Manuel Delia · Five Wrong Answers To The FATF It’s hard to imagine reacting to the FATF grey-listing development in a worse manner than ignoring it or underestimating it. And yet, presumably because of the experience of Malta’s conduct since the yellow card was raised in 2019, that is exactly what the FATF expects us [...]
When corruption becomes a way of life, when all are convinced that fat cats would by hook or by crook, get whatever they wanted, even if that breached laws and regulations applicable to all, if sanctioning of blatant irregularities that should normally lead to criminal prosecution and administrative penalties becomes the norm, the rule of [...]
Times of Malta reported Alex Dalli's testimony yesterday in the case I brought against the government for not letting me visit the prison and detention centres to assess allegations of living conditions. Reading the report you might get the impression that I asked to be given free rein around the prison grounds. I didn't. I [...]
Wednesday: The Financial Action Task Force puts Malta on the grey-list because the FATF is not convinced Malta is doing enough to fight money-laundering. Reportedly one of the most sceptical countries is the UK. Thursday: Prime Minister Robert Abela says he thinks the FATF's decision is “unjust” but will continue the dialogue with the FATF [...]
The phrase is a literal translation from German. It's not the twilight of our life, because Malta will outlast the criminals of our generation. It's not the twilight zone, because however mad, the shit we swim in is real. It's the twilight of the sepulchre, the shady place where law is weak and trust and [...]
Rosianne Cutajar and other gift-giving and food-distributing election candidates might have felt like they were getting a leg up from George Hyzler, the Commissioner for Standards, yesterday. Headlines all over the place picking what they were fed from the Commissioner’s conclusions left people with the impression that ‘Rosianne Cutajar had done nothing wrong’. Which, admittedly, [...]
Mr Omar Debono is not a public figure as such. But what he wrote on Facebook and the position he occupies gives insight into the mindset of people in responsibility and of the poor chances we have with thinking like this of emerging from the quagmire they put us in. Omar Debono is one of [...]
As if by design, whenever Malta seems to be going through a difficult time (which is every day really now), up pops Michelle Muscat on her cloying Instagram account to remind the great unwashed that she's doing well in her filtered designer kitsch bubble, thank you very much. Last Wednesday was the start of an [...]
'Mhux fair, ħi' sums up the official story about our grey-listing by the FATF. Many feared it, and many more groaned in pain when the news was confirmed. "We're fucked," was a much used phrase. The point is disaster does not happen when you fall in a hole. Disaster strikes when you realise that you're [...]
This is a speech I delivered earlier today at the Crossroads Europe Conference on EU Migration and Asylum Policy and the Public Debate organised by the Union of European Federalists. Thank you, Union of European Federalists for organising this important discussion today. As with every political question, the underlying determinant of how this political [...]
This is how everything that goes wrong in the little universe inside the head of supporters of the Labour Party is explained. And I'm not sorry this sounds like it is suggesting that people who support the Labour Party have deficits for brains. If you're still supporting them, if you still think you can explain [...]
Joseph Muscat only had one comment to Times of Malta. "I fully concur with the prime minister's comments." Mur fucking obsor. The first sign that this country has become serious about raking the shit will be when Joseph Muscat has reasons to disagree with the prime minister. Until then il-Kink is still il-Kink. Prosit Prim [...]
Always look on the bright side of life. We're not as bad as North Korea and Iran, so viva l-lejber.
I sputtered 1,400 words this morning to explain why I think this country is not normal, but just look at this: Look at the person "liking" the message. Claire Cuschieri. That's the daughter of the president of Malta and the wife of Joseph Cuschieri, he who resigned as chief regulator of the financial services industry [...]
Every country has the government it deserves – Joseph de Maistre Uganda is well-known for the grand-scale theft of public funds corruption involving public officials at all levels of society as well as widespread political patronage systems. Elite corruption in Uganda is through the benefaction system which has been aggravated by foreign aid. Aid has [...]
