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Absolute trust He said – in perfect English with a slight emphasis on the ‘TH’ – that he has absolute trust in his Finance Minister. Well if he has absolute trust in his Finance Minister we are not too surprised. What is surprising that he applies a different yardstick to his other ministers. Unlike Eddie Fenech Adami who would stand by all his ministers (Louis Galea was a fine example) no matter what, Gonzi has his preferences. Unlike his predecessor the reasons for supporting one of his ministers over another has nothing to do with believing his minister, but more to do with his own personal political survival. Lawrence Gonzi cannot survive without Tonio Fenech. As I have declared before, Tonio Fenech and George Pullicino – the lover of the Ragusa countryside and properties – are the janissaries that keep Lawrence Gonzi from sinking. Yes, sinking is the word, because if there is someone who appears to be disappearing fast, it has to be the Prime Minister. Now, I will reproduce the questions put to Tonio Fenech last Sunday – questions that were left unanswered. 1. Is the minister in a position to show us the VAT receipts for work carried out on his Balzan residence by JPM (Montebello) Brothers? 2. How did the minister pay for the works by JPM Brothers – by cash or by cheque? 3. Does the minister know of any payments that were passed on to Rainbow Turnkey Projects by JPM Brothers for the work they carried out on his Balzan residence, and whether VAT receipts were issued for these works? 4. Can the minister explain how he financed the works on his residence? 5. Why did the minister choose to engage JPM Brothers to carry out works on his Balzan residence? 6. Why did he choose to engage a firm (JPM Bros) whose business is development, not turnkey projects? 7. Does the minister deny having been aided directly or indirectly, in his electoral campaign, by JPM Brothers? 8. Journalist Godfrey Grima stated on One TV in the programme Wicc Imb Wicc, that according to his sources, you never informed the Prime Minister of your trip to watch a football match, aboard George Fenech’s jet with Fenech and Joe Gasan, and that the prime minister was made aware of this trip through an anonymous letter. What are your comments on this statement? Now, some moons ago, Lawrence Gonzi had declared that he would be imposing his ‘new way of doing politics’. That ‘new way of doing politics’ is best illustrated by the way he has personally tackled this scandal. He has said nothing and will do nothing. He has, however, said that he has absolute trust in his minister. Gee, absolute is a heavy word. Never in my life have I heard such a statement. No one ever makes such a statement. I can say for example that I have absolute trust in my mother. But experience teaches us to be rather cautious with the use of the word absolute. I guess Gonzi has his very good reasons for his declaration. At my age, I have seen so many Labour and Nationalist Prime Ministers stand by their generals that I am saddened that this man who prides himself to be an upright (and more importantly, Christian) zealot finds nothing improper in Fenech’s behaviour. Even if the private jet escapade and renovation works were not linked to any corrupt practice, the involvement of certain business characters in itself leads one to question the whole question of ethics. And in many European democracies, Fenech’s behaviour would be considered CORRUPT. The whole issue of ethics is of course irrelevant to Gonzi. His lieutenants have taken our kind of ethics and thrown them out of the window. The man behind this is undoubtedly Edgar Galea Curmi. If ever there was a man who should be nailed for all the spin doctoring it has to be our sweet Edgar! Whenever we are faced with irrational behaviour on the part of institutions, always look at the captains under the generals. The captains who in times gone by (for example, medieval times) would be slaughtering and decapitating dissidents. In Tonio Fenech’s ministry, the man who calls the shots is Alan Caruana, an infallible man who Tonio brought over from PriceWaterhouse, the audit firm that has done extremely well under this government. And just in case anyone is thinking that this is a serious coincidence, the answer to that is... no, it is not a coincidence. Alan Caruana is the man who, together with Edgar, run the show behind the scenes. Now Tonio Fenech’s political judgement is something to be seriously questioned. Instead of asking questions to Tonio Fenech and friends, I am sure it makes more sense to ask the following questions to ourselves or to our psychiatrist. 1. Why is it wrong to fly with George Fenech and Joe Gasan on a private jet? It follows that the reason we have slipped from the 36th position in the Corruption Perception Index to 45 is due to the illustrious new way of doing politics by that man who dreamt up the wind farm offshore project, only to realise that he was talking hogwash. Now slipping from 36 to 45 is no mean feat. It shows that if anyone had any doubt or any second thoughts about stating he or she had absolute trust in the goodness and truthfulness of Lawrence Gonzi, this is the moment to stop doubting. The good thing about reports like the Corruption Perception Index is that, unlike all the Maltese institutions or independent-minded people, they are beyond the influence of the spin doctors. People like Edgar Galea Curmi and Robert Cutajar cannot sort of put pressure on the CPI. Unlike Joe Falzon – the MEPA auditor who gets thrashed by MEPA after strict instructions from Castille – the CPI are beyond the radar of the Galea Curmi’s of this world. But this time round, the CPI’s damning assessment of Malta is a wonderful blood pudding in Gonzi’s political curriculum vitae. The man revered as a saint by all those who suffer from collective amnesia is of course very unhappy with the latest positioning, I am sure that the reason that the CPI have reached their conclusions is because they are either in collusion with the Labour party, or either are linked to the ‘Old Nationalist’ bunch, or else are in cahoots with the backbenchers or better still because they have not understood how magnanimous and honest and visionary and fair our Prime Minister is. So next time, you read an article which reports the facts about an issue, or which raises the issue of ethics or potential corruption, please do to believe a friggin’ word. It is all part of the reactionary ploy to dissuade us that the next time the Vatican come round to declaring sainthood, do not be too surprised to hear that the latest two saints are San Antonio di Montebello and San Lorenzo l’Assolutista.
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Managing editor Saviour Balzan | Tel. ++356 21382741 | Fax: ++356 21385075 | Email