Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri is doubling down on his insistence that he has done the right thing by not resigning: I tried to find alternative words to describe what he is actually trying to say, but I can’t describe it otherwise. He’s in the ridiculous position of having to explain why he is still responsible over national security after a gang of young and obnoxious criminals broke into a military base and stole a contested amount of drugs.
Note that the amount is contested by different sources with the Police and the Armed Forces having submitted figures that differed from what experts submitted in Court.
The whole thing is a disaster that exposes the widespread dysfunction in the entities under the Home Affairs Ministry and the massive vulnerabilities of our national security. Despite the gravity of the case, not even the Brigadier of the Armed Forces of Malta has resigned. He is back in his role after having been suspended temporally.
Note that this observation is in no way a justification or endorsement of Joseph Muscat. However, the reality is that even the disgraced former Prime Minister imposed higher standards on his Cabinet Ministers than the current Prime Minister. Unfortunately, that is a fact.
Instead of trying to justify his position, the Minister for Home Affairs should explain how he is running his ministry. Interestingly, the press never asked the Minister why his Permanent Secretary resigned. Emanuel Psaila resigned resigned after he accused the Minister of being infantile. He was replaced by Joyce Dimech, who was previously the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture. Emanuel Psaila was the previous head of the Civil Protection Department.
Today, the Ministry of Home Affairs is run by loyal Labour Party appointees. There is no genuine interest from the Ministry or its appointees, including the Permanent Secretary, in ensuring the proper functioning of its entities, as the priority is to shield the Labour government from its own scandals.
Website Editor
Historian and Publisher
Leave a Reply