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Every week, Maltese ministers and parliamentary secretaries are away participating in meetings held together with their European counterparts in Brussels.
The big difference is that most governments in Europe do not depend entirely on their ministers.
In Malta, the story is rather different. If, for example, a decision has to be taken to rid oneself of black skinny Eritreans the decision will not be taken by a senior official, but the minister.
Until the minister returns, files continue to gather dust and secretariat officials bite their nails waiting for their man.
A population the size of a middle-sized European city and a Government that is pyramidal in structure, has to compete with a plethora of inconsequential meetings organised by the boys from Brussels.
It is no open secret that each and every decision is taken by the minister. The only time a minister will appear in public is to take credit. When it comes to taking flak, the minister is always away, busy or indisposed.
If he or she is taken to task, the media are described as nasty and insidious.
Which brings me once again to Tonio Borg. Dr Borg was not available for comment this week, his communications coordinator said that he was practising the olé in Mexico. Dr Borg was not away in Antartica, but in a country where mobiles and electronic mail exist, but his communications coordinator thinks that this is a major hurdle to communicating with the Maltese press.
To be fair, his spokesman did say that the minister had appointed a magisterial inquiry and it was inopportune to comment.
It is evident that in another country, with a scandal related to immigrants returned to face torture hanging over his head, a Tonio Borg sort of guy would have resigned. But this is Malta and not another country, and Dr Borg who was elected as Deputy leader because Joe Saliba, Wenzu Mintoff’s former bodyguard, wanted it so, does not think that the issue is as serious as we are painting it to be.
One could say that one should give the Home Affairs minister the benefit of the doubt and wait for the findings of the magisterial inquiry. Yet, one cannot honestly have faith in home brewed inquiries
This is Malta, and all the inquiries hitting the road in the last 17 years of this Nationalist administration, have been a whitewash. Worse still, the politicians who were expected to react to the findings, are consistently unwilling to take action.
Dr Fenech Adami who stands in as our symbolic head, was a connoisseur in this kind of behaviour. Perhaps Lawrence Gonzi is a different kind of guy.
The truth is that politicians in this country are addicted to super glue. I call it the super glue syndrome. Tonio Borg appears to be deeply involved with super glue. He reaches out for his tube every time he lands himself in a cow patch, applying lines of glue to his seat of power, lest the shock waves strike him off his throne.
I had just forgotten about the Republic of Gozo, the honourable Giovanna Debono. Since I last wrote about Gozo, I heard some unbelievable stories of how much tax the Gozitans contribute to Malta’s gold chest.
Austin Gatt, who has taken up the role of Samurai with government-owned companies, should be asked to take leave from his Marsalforn hide-out and replace Ms Giovanna for some time.
He could start by reminding the Gozitans that Christianity and tax evasion are diametrically opposed and follow up his words with a strike on VAT receipts.
Yes, most Gozitans do not know what a receipt looks like.
The next warrior-like move he could make is to remind his fraternal brothers that there is such a thing as a planning permit.
If Austin is the bulldozer many say he is, he could start with Dahlet Qorrot, home to many ugly rooms used as summer homes. I am told Minister Debono has a very keen interest in Dahlet Qorrot. Then I could be wrong: in Gozo no one talks unless it is for a pat on the shoulder or a ‘Gozitan’ favour.
Welcome to Gozo, the Island where silence is truly Golden...
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