Where the parties stand | Fighting corruption

While surveys show that corruption is never high in the list of electoral campaigns, it could well dent the trust people have in politicians and political parties.

So far the electoral campaign has been overshadowed by the oil procurement scandal following the publications of emails dating back to 2004 suggesting kickbacks to then Enemalta consultant Frank Sammut.

The story, first published in MaltaToday, rocked the government in the third week of the electoral campaign, ultimately forcing the PM to issue a presidential pardon to George Farrugia, a businessman involved in the case, to turn State's evidence.

This decision could well have served to give the impression that the PM will leave no stone unturned to fight corruption - a claim which would have been more credible had the case been exposed earlier on by the police and not by a newspaper.  

The case became more damaging to the incumbent government after emails referring to meetings between the rogue businessman and Minister Austin Gatt surfaced in both the Sunday Times and MaltaToday.

Ironically, at the earliest stage of the campaign it had been the PN which tried to capitalise on the corruption issue by taking a hard line on two separate cases involving judges, with the PM presenting impeachment motions.

But the oil procurement scandal changed the dynamics of the campaign, fitting perfectly into Labour's energy narrative, which links government's procrastination on shifting to cleaner gas instead of Heavy Fuel Oils to individuals who had a vested interest in the importation of oil.

It also obscured Labour's strange commitment to issue an "expression of interest" instead of a public tender for the construction of new privately-owned, gas-fired power station and terminal. An expression of interest allows government to choose the preferred bidder through a direct order.

Labour has not been spared from the shadow cast on it by Anglu Farrugia when he alluded to the cosy relationship the party has with big contractors - something which tallies with the PN's claims that they are being overspent by Labour.

It also raised the question on how the campaigns of the big parties are being sponsored, thus giving AD the chance to pounce on the other two parties with its 20-year-old track-record of raising issues like party financing and the need to protect whistleblowers.

The failure of the PN to take Franco Debono's cue and and pass important legislation on party financing and approve a whistleblower's act has come back to haunt the party. 

Ironically, while the PN warns voters of the risks of a 'Greek tragedy' awaiting us if the country loses its focus on the economy, it fails to address the institutionalised corruption which contributed to the Greek collapse.

In the past two weeks, the PN has tried to turn the tables on Labour by releasing a series of secret recordings first involving GWU general secretary Tony Zarb and PL deputy leader Toni Abela - both released months or years after the conversations were actually recorded, which indicates that the information was stored to be used as lethal ammunition during the electoral campaign. 

While these recordings expose a degree of careless talk and omissions, none provided any hard evidence of corruption, even if they could have served to raise doubts on Labour's spotless, clean image. 

In the case of Zarb's recordings, the case backfired exposing links between the PN and the source of the recording: a contractor regularly bidding and winning tenders despite a track record of precarious employment practices. 

Abela's case revolves on his questionable decision not to report a drug related case to the police not to embarrass his party, even if Abela was only made aware of the case after the "white block" had already been already disposed off.

With scandals popping out from all direction, voters might well be asking; which party has the best policies to ensure that these cases do not recur in the future?