Malta is eagerly awaiting the first big scandal to come out of the new Labour administration led by Robert Abela.
Abela’s cabinet – the youngest in Malta’s history – was sworn in yesterday.
Bis-Serjetà headed to Valletta this morning to gauge the public’s views on the country’s prospects over the next two years. All the people we spoke to were excitedly curious about what the first big scandal would be.
“They’re going to have to work really hard to top the scandals of the previous government,” said Emma Cauchi, 32, from Mosta.
“Apart from the obvious big one, Muscat’s government were involved in loads of other amazing scandals. I mean let’s start with the first one: a minister’s driver firing a freakin’ gun in the middle of a main road,” she added, referring to the incident when Paul Sheehan, the driver of minister Manuel Mallia, shot at a car in 2014.
“This is a really young cabinet, so I’m hoping they come up with original scandals, not the usual ones like selling public land for a fraction of its value. We’ve bored of those,” said Chris Tabone, 45, from Tarxien.
If I had to guess which minister will be the first to be involved, the safe bet would obviously be Ian Borg. He’s sleazy, has a big ministry, and is close to a bunch of dodgy people like Keith Schembri and [Gozitan developer] Joseph Portelli,” said Joanna Mercieca, 26, from Birkirkara.
“But maybe it will someone completely unexpected like…well, on second thought I can’t think of anyone who would be immune.”
Meanwhile, political analyst Kenneth Barbara highlighted the importance of a government’s first scandal.
“The first scandal always sets the tone for what type of wrongdoing the government will be involved in during its legislature. Take the Sheehan incident: it showed government officials felt they could do anything they liked with complete impunity.
“It’s also important for an incoming administration to completely ignore the scandals of the previous one, just like how no one who was involved in the oil scandal uncovered in early 2013 was ever prosecuted while Joseph Muscat was in power.
“Similary, Robert Abela will probably never acknowledge the existence of the Panama Papers or the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.”
