On being informed by the acting Auditor-General, three years after he was commissioned to investigate government procurement of air tickets, that the allegations against John Dalli tunred out to be false; and on being informed by the auditor that he could not, as acting auditor, sign or publish the completed report, the Prime Minister was faced with a political dilemma.
Lawrence Gonzi found himself between a rock and a hard place. Should he act immediately and in so doing rehabilitate John Dalli? Or should he simply keep quiet and let John Dalli face an impending election with a cloud of suspicion around him? Lawrence Gonzi opted to do what he believed, with the information he had in hand, to be the right thing. He nobly did what he considered to be the right thing to do regardless of the political fallout. In so doing, he placed his sense of humanity first, irrespective of the political consequences.
It is circumstances like these which make the highest office in the land such a solitary position. There can be little doubt that this decision has politically stirred a hornet’s nest. It goes to the heart of questioning the political judgement of the Prime Minister himself when he accepted his minister’s resignation three years ago. It now solidifies the perception that the former minister was pushed and did not jump. The purchase of the air tickets from this particular company raised questions, but surely it did not need three long years for the Prime Minister to decide to bring back Mr Dalli back into the party mainstream. As it certainly did not need to take three years for a report to be completed.
The political fall-out is immense. The immediate conclusion is that Dr Gonzi’s judgement three years ago was flawed. To this extent, his position as Prime Minister is weaker after this decision.
And why now? This is the defining question. Is it due to the fresh information passed over by the auditor himself, which prompted the Prime Minister to treat a long overdue wound? Or is it due to our being on the threshold of a crucial election?
We sincerely believe it was a bit of both. The conclusion of the report served as the catalyst, but the proximity of the election must also have been uppermost on the Prime Minister’s mind.
The advisor appointment role also raises a number of questions. How wide is it? What are the terms of reference and where does this leave the position of the high performing Tonio Fenech? Could the appointment not have been made known beforehand and by a dry press release, rather than the calling of a press conference with little new to announce, other than the advisor role?
Clearly the position taken by Lawrence Gonzi has not weakened John Dalli. It effectively gives the former Finance Minister a clean sheet of conduct and makes him better placed to fight the election. Whether it has put the Nationalist Party in a stronger position is open to debate. At a minimum it has closed an unhappy political chapter and swept the carpet from under the feet of the Labour Party, which no doubt planned on citing, during its electoral campaign, the chapter and verse of Dalli’s downfall over the last three years.
At most it will help pave the way for disgruntled Nationalists, who associated with Dalli’s sense of hurt pride and disengagement from the party, to make their way to the polling booths.
There are lessons to be learnt from this unhappy saga. The pressures experienced by the Dalli family must have been immense, as witnessed by the expressions of his wife and daughter and personal aide during the press conference. The sense of disownment by one’s own party, after years of service under a difficult political climate, is hurtful. The malicious role played by the disgraced private investigator was criminal. Likewise, the fact that the Prime Minister left his former minister hanging on a political thread for three whole years was insensitive at best.
It must be said also that John Dalli himself was naïve in not having acknowledged when minister, the political implications of the method of ticket purchasing.
He also has to be aware of having given so much fodder to his political opponents especially when they wish him no good.
The role played by the press in this saga also warrants analysis.
This should be taken as a case study on the viciousness of the art of spin, which has overtaken and debased the world of politics from its noble mission, the battle of ideas.
There has been much mud slinging, which following this decision, leaves egg on many a face.
Only time will tell whether the prime minister will reap any political dividends from his act of rehabilitation.
We believe the Prime Minister may well pay a heavy price.