Known as a popular tourist destination, Malta tends to fly under the radar in the wider geopolitical scene. However, after the annus horribilis of 2021, the tiny EU member state is quickly gaining a reputation that can be hard to shake.

Instead of remaining an economic and political backwater, notoriety is mentioned after a series of national scandals that forced Malta into a seemingly endless queue.

Malta’s many problems start at the top.

Last year witnessed a large number of ministerial scandals ranging from rampant misuse of public funds to Interior Minister Carmelo Abela, implicated in a bankrupt HSBC banking heist. Despite the criticism in their home country, the recent controversy over the UK’s second parliamentary job has diminished compared to Malta’s corrupt political system, heavily influenced by a small group of wealthy families.

Perhaps there is no better example to close unnervingly relationship between the Minister of Justice Edward Zammit Lewis and Yorgen Fenech – a businessman whose family owns half of Malta’s brick-and-mortar casinos and was implicated in the murder of a journalist. Daphne Caruana Galicia.

A dark cloud has hung over Malta since Galizia, a Maltese investigative journalist, was killed in a car bomb explosion in 2017. A harsh critic of the government, Galizia had published allegations linking then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to the Panama Papers scandal shortly before. her death. That the resulting public inquiry concluded this year that “the [Maltese] The state must take responsibility “was shocking and depressing in the same way, but the lack of consequent action should be more worrying.

The government of Prime Minister Robert Abela has failed to commit to implementing the recommendations of the public inquiry panel despite press freedom groups stepping up pressure on the deserved state. Reporters Without Borders last year Press Freedom Index placed Malta at 81, below those of Kyrgyzstan and Hong Kong. The findings of the inquiry further strengthen Malta as one lagging behind in press freedom and therefore that position is likely to decline further in 2022.

Abela must have his hands full.

Last summer, Malta became the first EU member state to be included in the Financial Action Task Force ‘gray listof countries without basic financial safeguards. The offending issues, including money laundering and various other financial crimes, have long affected Malta and are particularly widespread in Malta. gambling sector.

Representing almost a tenth of the national economy, gambling is the economic core of Malta. Many international gambling firms have chosen to make Malta their home with low taxes, accommodating regulators and laws that allow companies registered there to offer online gambling to customers anywhere in the world.

The government’s reluctance to maintain Malta’s status as a gambling hub has allowed corruption to enter the industry and spread throughout the island. From June to October, a total of 45 financial services companies canceled their licenses to operate in Malta including Citco, a trillion dollar hedge fund manager. Since then, with more shopping packages, Malta’s economy has been slipping into an irreversible downturn if it is unable to renovate its home.

At the bottom of Europe, Malta is beginning to make unfavorable comparisons with my fellow Cyprus asylum for money laundering. However, while Cyprus continues to strengthen its anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing standards, including the abolition of its investment citizenship program, Maltese heads remain buried in the sand.

The government defended it “gold passportsFor wealthy foreigners, described by the EU as risking “importing criminals and laundering money across the EU.” Built on dirty money, the foundations of Malta are being laid.

From the pile of various issues that have come to the fore this past year, it is the subsequent inaction that binds them together. There seems to be a lack of responsibility at the top of Maltese politics and the tangible impacts of this uncomfortable reality are now coming. Ranked low in the global press freedom index and high in the money laundering / terrorist financing lists, Malta is keeping up with those. it does not suit a supposedly progressive Western nation.

A look at last year’s opinion poll suggests what’s to come general election– to be held before September – will see the repeat of the previous two elections in which Abela’s Labor Party emerged victorious. However, no advantage over the opposition will be given in any way if foreign businesses continue to leave the country and the government continues to shirk its responsibility – whether for the misuse of public funds or the killing of foreigners. journalists.

If the government decides to sit back and let these issues explode, the people of Malta can go to the polls with a desire for change and vote for an administration that can fix the wrong. Whether in London, Brussels or the City, political complacency can be fatal.