In the previous Labour administration we had the Prime Minister`s secretary dealing in drugs, as a baron I mean, that was the proof I had.

When I proceeded to his arrest at the Auberge de Castille I was called by the Police Commissioner to desist, revert to Headquarters under orders.

The Commissioner did not want to hear my verbal report and ordered me to report to CID superintendent. I did.

He and three sergeants reverted to a house in Gzira where they seized a steel cabinet full of drugs. Full stop fresh line. The same full stop fresh line I had when I solved a case of corruption in the issue of trading licences in which the Minister was involved directly with proven evidence.

I was ordered off the case. In the long run I was awarded a blast of a bomb at the door of my home.

If Muscat dumps Mallia now, the story will, with a bit of luck, be crushed under a ton of mistletoe and goodwill.

If he lets this saga drag on, this nightmare is going to haunt him well into the new year.

At this point, even Muscat realises that Mallia is more trouble than he’s worth. It has been two whole years of one blunder after another.

The issues now are whether Mallia has some hold on Muscat and whether Muscat’s belligerent personality will be able to accept the fact that, on this point, the opposition and the media have won and he has lost, and Mallia is too far gone to save.

There would have to be a major shift in parliamentary opinion for anything to change.

[Daphne – No, political shifts begin with significant shifts in public opinion. Once that happens, nothing any government can do will stop the inevitable, however fast or slow that is.]

I disagree.

The Opposition look like they’ve already run out of steam. Keeping up the pressure on anything is not something they’re used to (they’re still radiating feel-good messages like they’re in government). So we must assume there won’t be any more revelations.

The inquiry will find “serious cause for concern”, but nothing too specific. I’m ready to wager a bottle of Veuve Clicquot that these will be the exact words.

Muscat will declare that he will do the right thing, and call a vote of confidence in Mallia (not no confidence) in parliament.

The vote will go through, perhaps with Marlene Farrugia abstaining.

And Mallia will keep his post. The government will carry on.

[Daphne – You’re wrong already. It’s been announced that there will be more phone-calls today. The flaw in your analysis is that you have failed to factor in the shift in public opinion.]

So “Scotsman” might be another euphemism like “godfather” and “Un pezzo da novanta” in Mafia parlance.

No, that time at least he was not lying; he was using lawyers’ jargon.

Remember he said,”he had sold some *PROPERTY”.

Everybody thought he meant real estate until a check at the Land Registry showed no such transactions had taken place.

Then nothing more was said about it.

One does not accumulate half a million euros by selling peanuts, baubles or what can be easily bought at Lidl.

Now, that is something to be investigated and worked out.

in a way it is very simple to resolve the enigma of the income from a sale of property to the tune of €500,000.

If I had to do the same and did not declare it as the deal may be concluded Mafia-style, and if somebody exposes this deal to the authorities, I for sure, will be hounded by the Income Tax Department.

Now, did Manuel Mallia pay his dues from this sale? What sort of income tax did he pay?