GUEST POST/The Labour Party needs an internal coup

Written by Matthew S

It is now pressingly obvious that the Labour Party has got to have an internal coup. It cannot continue to be led and thoroughly dominated by the Toxic Triad of Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri. The Panama scandal is not over and it will not be over any time soon. Last Monday’s vote in parliament has not drawn a line beneath the matter. On the contrary, it seems to have exacerbated it, as the excuses and justifications seem ever more ridiculous and it becomes clear that the “international audit”, already a bit of a farce, just isn’t happening. The Panama Papers are going to haunt the Labour Party for a long time to come.

When the power station is ready – assuming it ever is, at this rate – people are not going to be talking about energy and how great Konrad Mizzi is because his power station really did turn out to be “doable” despite all the negative people saying it was not. They are going to be talking about the money that must have gone through Mizzi’s, Schembri’s and Muscat’s companies in Panama.

When the new operators take over the hospitals, people are not going to be talking about the services they offer but about the money Mizzi, Schembri and Muscat must have made off the deals.

When Joseph Muscat sets off again to hawk Maltese passports in the Middle East, people are going to wonder how much he and his cronies are getting from Henley and Partners, and what their Panama invoice looks like.

When and if a deal is struck on a tunnel between Malta and Gozo, people are going to wonder whether that tunnel leads to Panama and whether it is lined with sacks of cash.

It cannot be proven (yet) that the third company in that family of three, Egrant Inc., is Joseph Muscat’s company, but everyone thinks it is anyway. This makes it impossible for him to negotiate any deals without coming under grave suspicion. People think that Egrant Inc belongs to Muscat not just because Nexia BT refused to give the ultimate beneficial owner’s name in emails but only over Skype, but also because ifMuscat hadn’t been wheeling and dealing with Mizzi (the marionette) and Schembri (the puppet master), he would have fired them weeks ago – not because he has a moral compass but to save his skin.

Joseph Muscat has become the Red Death and the Panama Papers are his Masque.Anything he, Mizzi and Schembri touch from now on will wither and die. It was an indulgent party while it lasted and the trough was full to the brim, but now the swill is spiked and only fools would keep their nose stuck in there.

Political analysts like to say that the first year of any government is the honeymoon period. The polls are now saying that people are starting to file for divorce. Power has become so concentrated that the Labour Party has become a shadow of the Toxic Triad. Party delegates and officials need to take back control of their crappy outfit. It will still be a crappy outfit infested with corrupt individuals and political has-beens, but at least it will look a whole lot less than an organised crime network controlled by three individuals for their personal benefit and financial gain.