GUEST POST: Government jobs handed out on the eve of an election are not just immoral but also illegal

We live in a corrupt country, one in which the rule of law has collapsed and the institutions meant to safeguard separation of powers and the rights of citizens have been completely and systematically undermined over the last four years.

And now this. Muscat’s government – which has put thousands of people on the state payroll since March 2013, has – on the eve of a general election – handed out hundreds of jobs and promotions to supporters of the Labour Party.

The intake of civil servants in Gozo, the army promotions, the WasteServ fresh employment drive, the new intake at the Health Ministry and Air Malta promotions being offered and made today, hours before Malta goes to the polls and on the very last day of this government, are shocking to all those who were not around in 1987 to see the outgoing Labour government of the time put 8,000 people on the public payroll before the general election.

It is distressing to see that even after three decades, the party has not changed its bad attitude towards good governance. Those jobs are out of order not merely because they are immoral, but more properly because they are illegal.

Maltese law prohibits the giving or promising of any office or employment (Cap 354, Art 56(b)) to influence a voter. This is bribery, a text-book corrupt practice for which punishment includes a term of 6 months imprisonment. And beyond this, any citizen can file an in-genere complaint with a magistrate to investigate the matter.

Simon Busuttil has promised to sack the present, worthless Police Commissioner and appoint a new one. Those persons in the Labour Party/outgoing government who have authorised these corrupt practices or facilitated them must be investigated – be they former Ministers, civil servants, chairmen or corporation heads. No wonder Muscat is doing all he can to remain in power. It’s the only way to save his skin.

The Nationalist Party needs a Police Commissioner with Rottweiler instincts to clean up this mess once and for all. And with it, to pick up those Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit reports and go after the people involved: Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi, Joseph Muscat, Brian Tonna, Karl Cini and Adrian Hillman.

Our vote tomorrow must answer this challenge. Malta must survive and emerge renewed or become, as it once was, the pariah of Europe.