A disaster year, for some
The year 1992 had been so bad for the British monarchy that Queen Elizabeth had called it an annus horribilis. It is unlikely that President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca will use that term to describe 2017. But it was.
Malta started the year with the presidency of the European Union, a hyped-up ceremonial post that became a damp squib when an unexpected snap election, called a year too early, took the island by storm.
Away from the electoral programmes, a new vocabulary began to emerge, most especially on the social media. The island learnt about a Dubai company called 17 Black, about the alleged ownership of the Panama company called Egrant and of the night activities of a bank in Ta’ Xbiex called Pilatus. All this and reports of sleaze and corruption, including those from leaked documents from the government’s anti-money laundering agency, FIAU, coupled by police inaction, rattled the country’s institutions.
And, yet, Joseph Muscat and the Labour Party he leads breezed to resounding victory. Either people did not believe a word or they would not care. The Nationalist Party that had promised to clean up the country was shattered.
An eerie lull followed that electoral victory. A...