It was always meant to be that way

It hasn’t become this way. It’s been this way since the first day in March 2013.

It was planned. This is how it was always meant to be.

They started as they meant to go on, by sweeping out the permanent secretaries in all ministries and bringing in a former GWU man as principal permanent secretary, then making all those Taghna Lkoll reward appointments on committees and boards of directors, giving ambassadorships to people who were literally on the party payroll – Norman Hamilton, Ray Azzopardi, Marisa Micallef – or who had donated money and services to the party, like John Debono and his billboards.

Then came all the jobs for the boys and girls, and the non-jobs – literally, invented job titles with no job to do – with large salaries and perks attached.

It’s a five-year grab fest, but more than that: for those who are perfectly positioned to do it, the grab-fest will reap dividends for them for much of the rest of their life in terms of capital assets acquired and deals struck.