Muscat and his sidekick Schembri are supposed to be in Strasbourg before the PANA Committee today

Today is 18th May, the day the Prime Minister and his corrupt henchman Keith Schembri are due to appear before the European Parliament’s Anti-Money-Laundering Committee (PANA) in Strasbourg to answer questions about their behaviour in government and their extra-curricular activities.

When Muscat was first ‘invited’ to go some weeks ago, he didn’t even bother to reply to the letter. He was sent another one, pointing out that he had failed to reply to the first, and giving him a fresh date: today.

Has he even replied to that? We know that he will not go because he said so in public meetings. That is the kind of third-world politician we find ourselves landed with now.

And Keith Schembri, who should be in prison and not in the Auberge de Castille fixing shady deals for the government and trading in influence, is not going either.

How did we end up like this? We are in a terrible situation which has now moved clearly from reputational risk for Malta to outright reputational damage.

The love that dare not speak its name: money and corruption, the Prime Minister and his chief of staff.