What happened to the Whistleblower’s Act?

It seems a long time ago now, but in his Independence Day address in 2010, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi reiterated his government's intention to strengthen anti-corruption laws, and above all to launch the long-awaited Whistleblower's Act.

The proposal had first seen light of day in a White Paper entitled 'Towards Greater Transparency and Accountability', presented in July 2007 - more than five years ago.

Eventually a draft bill was tabled in parliament in 2008 - shortly after that same Independence Day commitment. But since that day, government seems to have lost its momentum on this issue. Passing this law no longer seems to be a priority for the Gonzi administration - so much so, that the words themselves appear to have been dropped altogether from the prime minister's repertoire of catchphrases.

Truth be told, the same Whistleblower's Act is now simply gathering dust in the ever-growing pile of proposed laws that have accumulated on the agenda of Parliament - to be discussed, yes, but not to be approved or enacted in the foreseeable future... at least, not for as long as the ongoing parliamentary crisis continues.

By now the situation is well enough known, and no longer requires any detailed explanation. Suffice to say that, from a one-seat majority after the 2008 election, Gnosis's government has been whittled down to no majority at all... and if it occupies government at all, it is only thanks to an uneasy (and to be frank, undefined) "coalition" with an independent backbencher.

One need hardly add that under such circumstances - and more to the point, with another backbencher (Franco Debono) constantly threatening to withhold his support - government cannot afford to risk an embarrassing discomfiture in the House. For this reason alone, Parliament has for several months now studiously avoided reaching any situation where government's actual support can be tested by means of a vote.

But in recent weeks the Prime Minister gave us an astonishing reminder how very seriously the Whistleblower's Act is in fact needed in this country. Replying to a parliamentary question tabled by Evarist Bartolo, in reference to the 2008 death of Nicholas Azzopardi in police custody, Gonzi revealed that no fewer than 13 people (all detained asylum seekers, apart from Azzopardi) had been involved in similar accidents at the same spot within the Depot.

More significantly still, he also took the unusual initiative to offer an "amnesty" to anyone who stepped forward with information regarding the Azzopardi case.

This is unusual, because the concept of an 'amnesty' is not strictly speaking applicable in that scenario. Amnesties are as a rule awarded to people who are already convicted, and normally translate into a reduction of sentence or liberation from prison (depending on various circumstances). To be fair, Gonzi may have had the different concept of a Presidential Pardon in mind - this being often used as a form of "King's Evidence" within the Maltese legal system. (The most famous - or perhaps notorious - example being the multiple pardons offered to Zeppi l-Hafi over the Richard Cachia Caruana attempted murder of 1992)

But again, the pardon is normally offered to known suspects... and not to anonymous informants who may or may not step forward to identify themselves.

On the contrary: the correct type of legislative instrument to be invoked in cases such as these is precisely the Whistleblower's Act: i.e., the very same legislation that Dr Gonzi once promised to enact, only to later apparently forget about this commitment.

At this point, one must question why Dr Gonzi saw fit to invent a whole new unorthodox procedure to address an issue that should, by rights, be addressed by the Whistleblower's Act. One possible explanation immediately presents itself: given the doubts over his parliamentary majority, Gonzi may be reluctant to put the bill to a vote for fearing of losing it, and with it, the credibility of his government.

If so, it is perhaps an understandable fear... yet at the same time also entirely unwarranted, for the simple reason that the one person who has consistently insisted on the enactment of the Whistleblower's Act, happens to also be the same MP at the heart of the ongoing crisis: i.e., Franco Debono.

Having urged government to pass this law for years, it would be inconceivable for Debono to also withhold his support when it came to a vote in Parliament. Clearly, then, there must be another reason why Gonzi has chosen to put this bill on the backburner.

Given the controversial nature of the legislation in question - which would offer protection to persons coming forward with incriminating evidence of fraud, corruption or other crimes committed at the workplace - one is reluctantly tempted to conclude that government is deliberately stalling its enactment, out of fear that the resulting legislation may be used against its own departments or members.

If the Prime Minister wishes to avoid such potentially damaging speculation - especially in view of how many recent cases of alleged corruption this country has experienced - he may wish to clarify the matter once and for all, by explaining exactly what went wrong with his plans to launch a Whistleblower's Act in this legislature.