Political candidates, MPs and members of Cabinet are full steam ahead doing house visits and seeking all forms of media exposure as part of their efforts to win that elusive parliamentary seat. The palpable feeling on the ground is that the general election is looming on the horizon possibly in early autumn. Though they harbour different if not conflicting political backgrounds these candidates publicly vouch that their only motivation is their desire to serve people and constituents. While this might prompt applause from the politically blinkered or those whose notion of meritocracy translates to blatant clientelism, the rest of the population will be far from impressed with the ‘serving-the-people’ mantra treating like a cliché if not with a pinch of salt.  

Such scepticism is not grounded in perception but unfortunately in experiences which have been unfolding locally and abroad in recent years. Though the conduct of certain politicians left much to be desired the situation has greatly degenerated in recent years. Two wrongs don’t make a right but from incidents involving the then Finance Minister Tonio Fenech accepting a gift in the form of a Maltese-styled clock, we have gone to a sitting Minister Carmelo Abela facing allegations of having been an accomplice in an attempted heist from the HSBC in 2011.  While there is the cardinal presumption of innocence until found guilty, it beggars belief how Minister Abela has not decided to step aside until his name is cleared. Prime Minister Robert Abela seems oblivious to the fact that his inaction on the matter is dragging the entire government into muddy waters.

The issue however goes beyond this case. We also had Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar resign pending the outcome of an ethics investigation into her conduct with Yorgen Fenech – who is charged in connection with the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia – in the wake of allegations that she pocketed thousands as commission on the sale of property without listing it in her parliamentary declaration of assets.

All this came hot on the heels of being the only EU Member States of having a sitting minister, Konrad Mizzi implicated in the Panama Papers Revelations scandal. If this was not enough the trust of law-abiding citizens in politicians took a further plunge whenever the names of former Minister Chris Cardona and former Chief of Staff Keith Schembri were mentioned during court proceedings about the Caruana Galizia murder.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life which was established to raise ethical standards across the board, not least our MPs, is increasingly coming under fire from the government side. While no institution is flawless, the mind boggles how certain parliamentarians turn a blind eye to events around them and are happy to sit alongside colleagues shrouded in controversy but relish the prospect of undermining an institution which seeks to raise the bar.    Some two decades ago, Joseph Muscat had written that whoever ventures into politics must either be a missionary, a thief or mad. While everybody is free to reach their own conclusion, the situation right now leaves little room for interpretation.