J'accuse: Conflicts & Interests

This article and accompanying Bertoon appear in today’s edition of The Malta Independent on Sunday.

Arse-Null

Right. First of all I have to get a question off my chest before I explode. Is Arsenal FC worth imperilling a shaky government and a political career to boot? I mean Arsene Wenger does manage to turn a youngster (stolen from other clubs’ academies) into a decent footballer. The French savant with the sportsmanship of Vlad the Impaler has assembled a team or two that can play champagne football against Barnsley or Chernomorets Varna before they pass out like a group of underage wannabies when the time arrives for them to rise to the occasion. But the question remains: Does this damp excuse for entertainment football in North London really justify the breaking of an ethical code and spreading of red tomatoes on the face of the government?

That was a rhetorical question. For there is only one team that could possibly merit such slavish devotion and high-level risks, and all it has had in common with Arsenal are Liam Brady and Patrick Vieira (and a cameo appearance by the guy from the Gilette ad). Yet, it would seem that Minister Tonio Fenech values the Arsenal so much that he opted to hop on a privately owned jet plane and buzz off with some friends to the Emirates Stadium. Said friends, as we all know, happen to be the Maltese equivalent of the “jet set” (apologies for the pun) and are not exactly the kind of people who you would say have no interest in the outcomes of various economically related issues in our tiny political scenario.

Minister Fenech did say a few things in his defence, first and foremost among which was the mother of all defences: “Lawrence said that I could”. Which could be an interesting defence in certain circles devoted to a fast track sanctification of our Prime Minister but which counts as much as the number of champions league trophies in the Arsenal trophy cabinet (you guessed it… none) among those of a more neutral persuasion. Have I got news for PN politicians. Lawrence’s acquiescence is neither here nor there in the final judgement on what constitutes ethical behaviour.

Yes Minister, No Politics

The second justification in the eyes of the honourable minister in charge of monies and such things as economies are made of, was about as credible as the classic dog and homework repartee oft heard in secondary schools around the world. “The dog ate my homework miss” is not too far from the statement “we did not talk politics” in overall credibility ratings. For heaven’s sake Tonio (and George) – women at the grocery store talk politics, guys standing at the pissoirs during cinema intermission breaks talk politics, your dentist, hairdresser and bus driver will talk politics, hell even your pastizzi vendor will become a bona fide pundit as he slips you the nofs tuzzana rkotta (half dozen cheesecakes) and loose change.

But what did MINISTER Fenech and a top member of the national business community talk about on the free jet ride to London (City I presume)? Well, I guess they found enough time while fastening seat belts to exhaust all possible discussion on the entire history of Arsenal FC’s glorious achievements. That’s approximately three and a half minutes accounted for. We could allow for another four or five minutes during which Minister Fenech and fellow travellers tried to guess the outcome of Arsenal’s current season. Being a seasoned number-cruncher could have come in handy to Minister Fenech since by extrapolating past results he would have swiftly concluded that they will not be singing (or flying) anymore much before the current season is over.

Which leaves us to the remaining three hours – and that is just the flight. Now I know that the assumption of your average PLPN politician these days is that your voter is as gullible a flag-waving ignoramus as the marketing machine would like him to be. There must be a limit to this basic assumption beyond which there is no going back. It’s a Hooke’s Law of Voter Gullibility I guess. It should go something like this: the extension of a voter’s gullibility is in direct proportion with the amount of bullshit heaped upon him/her as long as this load does not exceed the credibility limit.

Just think for a moment. Given five minutes in a room with George Pullicino would you: (a) Ask him if he thinks that leaving Goran Pandev aside for the season was a smart move by Lazio? (b) Enquire politely whether we would ever be relieved of the burden of energy bills? (c) Discuss anything of a political nature even if it were not within his portfolio? Yes, you’re right to ask: Who is Goran Pandev? George would know but I am sure you would not be discussing that with George when your time is up. And that’s because it is only natural that you would discuss politics.

Why it’s not about common sense

In truth we have no way of knowing what Minister Fenech did talk about on that plane ride and trip. What we do know is that Minister Fenech accepted a free ride that was clearly in conflict with his ministerial position. There is a reason politicians the world over are required to declare their commercial interests before entering into public office (or even in some cases before taking a seat in representative assemblies). In lobby heavy Brussels and Washington, declarations of financial and economic connections are very standard activities and there is an obvious reason for that.

The issue here is that the Minister’s word is not enough because the mere act of accepting the invitation to fly for free suffices to violate a code of ethics – that for Cabinet members. A gift, according to this code, could give rise to a “real or imagined obligation”. Now that’s some heavy stuff. Even if the gift does not really create an obligation but could lead people to imagine that such an obligation exists, the code of ethics advises against accepting such gift.

Now the code of ethics is there for a reason. It goes far beyond an issue of common sense. Morality and ethics are the subject of extensive debate in the fields of philosophy and law. A code of ethics normally encompasses an accepted standard of behaviour in a particular culture or community. At times the very prescriptions of a code of ethics might not be in line with what is deemed to be common sense or vice versa. The point is that it is easy to trivialise the matter by spinning the argument that all that Minister Fenech lacked was common sense when he took that decision. That is true – but it does not exclude the fact that there also seems to be a clear violation of a code of ethics binding on our representatives in Cabinet.

Which could be a pity – such a violation for the sake of Arsenal FC. Who would have thought?

Double-edged swords

There are of course problems that arise when we treat such issues with black and white superficiality. I am one of those who is still inclined to think that the whole flight business boils down simply to a blindingly stupid ministerial faux pas and nothing more. The reason? Even if they did talk shop on the flight they would not have been doing anything less than they could have done at opposite ends of a phone call while in Malta, away from the prying eyes of the curious conspiracy spinners. Would Minister Fenech really change a law in order to get more free tickets to watch Arsenal? He may choose to be an Arsenal fan but I can safely guess that his sins in mistaken decisions stop right there.

The problem with guilt by association (and by gift) is that no matter where you look these days business interests are heavily intertwined with both political parties. Defenders of the Nationalist faith have brought up the fact that Charles Mangion – a potential Labour Cabinet minister – works very closely with members of the business community of equal ilk and clout as those flying with Minister Fenech that day. What then when Charles is in power? And we could go on. For every voter may have his political saint but every political saint is normally quite close to a slush fund deity. And this is the stuff that Maltese politics is made of.

Fenech’s friendship with the businessmen is only brought to light after a faux pas such as this last one. Which is probably what is meant by the brigade of “common sense” defenders. What they really mean is that we all KNOW that the politicians of this world have some strange bedfellows but common sense might dictate that they be discreet about it. Every now and then some renegade politician might decide to make political mileage by pointing an accusing finger when the political elastic limit (same principle, different variables) has been exceeded only to find out that while he has been pointing at the skeletons in other people’s cupboard, an army of undead has suddenly materialised in his own home turf.

Political and legal representatives

Bang in the middle of this week, while all the fuss was concentrated on Minister Fenech, I came across a seemingly innocuous article on online portal di-ve.com about Parliamentary Secretary Jason Azzopardi (a Hibs fan I presume) who “presided over the official opening of XXX audit firm”. I blanked out the name of the firm myself in case you are wondering. Once you find an answer to the question “Why does it take a junior Cabinet member to open a company in this country?” you can move on to noticing how intertwined the whole business and politics question is. Jason is one of the quieter members of the PN community and I am sure he believes there is no harm in a bit of exposure every now and then to remind people who the PS for revenues and land is. And I am sure there is no harm either. Yet – a Cabinet member lending himself to the very mundane and nondescript affair of the “opening” of an audit firm? Why?

There is a flip side to this kind of paranoia. This week Veronique Dalli (as far as I know ex-Super One journalist – as in no longer exercising political activity) was ticked off by Daphne Caruana Galizia for having defended a client in a court VAT case and having asked for the minimum punishment of a suspended sentence. Apparently Veronique’s crime was that of contradicting the policy of the political party to which she is affiliated. (The PL has asked for a revision of the VAT law and for harsher penalties.) What Daphne fails to notice is the clear distinction between political party campaigns and a lawyer’s duty to represent his client to the best of his capabilities. Legal ethics require a lawyer in Veronique’s position to put her duty towards the client before any principles and beliefs she may or may not share with Joseph Muscat’s party.

Seeing is believing

Tonio Fenech’s trip. Joseph Muscat’s renewed Black Monday apology. PN’s latest call for a new apology for the apology. We see things the way we prefer to see things. The more perceptive among us can see beyond the veil of ignorance spun by the efficient party machines. As G.B. Shaw once said: “The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who haven’t got it.” Call me observant or call me a cynic… I still think that Arsenal FC is not really worth it!

Jacques has run out of space so he will have to discuss more of this cynicism at http://www.akkuza.com. Arsenal fans without a self-deprecating sense of humour need not turn up on the day (unless they have free tickets to a good match).