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Julian Manduca
Transparency International, the only international non-governmental organisation devoted to combating corruption, that brings civil society, business, and governments together in a global coalition, has featured Malta in its report for 2003.
The gap between public evidence and private talk about corruption in Malta is wide and being such a small and insignificant country, Maltese stories of any kind rarely make international news.
In its report about Malta, Transparency International states: “The media is active in Malta, where in May 2002 the newspaper MaltaToday published a report on how a late Labour minister and his associates had orchestrated illicit bank loans and defrauded individuals until 1994.
“The government reportedly refused to respond to the pleas of the whistleblowers, who lived in constant fear of reprisals. Investigative reporters at MaltaToday uncovered information ‘on a plethora of judges, magistrates, lawyers, notaries, businessmen and politicians who appear to have been involved in a network of corruption and deceit,’ but lamented that other ‘journalists and newspaper columnists have chosen to steer clear of it’.”
When the Italian authorities launched their mani pulite (clean hands) operations, in the early nineties then Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami went on record saying that Malta did not suffer from corruption like its northern neighbours. The comment went largely unnoticed, but must have been met with a fair amount of winking and knowing eyes meeting each other.
In 1994, sociologist David M. Boswell published a not very well researched paper entitled ‘Clientelism, Patronage and Accusations of Corruption in Malta in the 1970s and 1980s,’ which, if anything, confirms how little there is in the public sphere about the topic. Boswell’s paper does however touch on the alleged corruption of former ministers including the two Cachia-Zammit brothers, Patrick Holland and Lorry Sant, as well as Party thugs like ‘il-Fussellu.’
He also describes an incident where a Labour Party committee member was given a bouquet of flowers on the understanding that he would then discuss a planning application of a landowner who wanted to build on government land, with an MP.
Through its International Secretariat and more than 85 independent national chapters around the world, Transparency International works at both the national and international level to curb both the supply and demand of corruption.
“In the international arena, TI raises awareness about the damaging effects of corruption, advocates policy reform, works towards the implementation of multilateral conventions and subsequently monitors compliance by governments, corporations and banks.
“At the national level, chapters work to increase levels of accountability and transparency, monitoring the performance of key institutions and pressing for necessary reforms in a non-party political manner,” Peter Eigen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TI said.
The organisation does not expose individual but makes an effort to make long-term gains against corruption, focusing on prevention and reforming systems.
julian@newsworksltd.com
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