Opinion: Time is running out

US federal agents briefly detained Armin Ernst, the man Joseph Muscat accompanied to Robert Abela’s office, as soon as he stepped down.

The former prime minister turned lobbyist overnight pressured his successor, Abela, to extend Steward’s concession and pay them millions more of our money.

Federal agents also detained Ralph de La Torre, who Muscat met at his Castille office and prevented reporters from asking questions.

Federal agents seized both men and their mobile phones. The US Attorney’s Office opened an investigation into Steward’s Malta deal, citing fraud and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Muscat must be trembling.

In the US, federal search warrants aren’t issued lightly. Credible evidence must be presented to search for and seize a person or his electronic equipment. Those US federal agents must be convinced the phones of Muscat’s friends will yield vital evidence to help prosecute them over the Malta hospitals’ concession. And it doesn’t take US federal agents a year to crack suspects’ phones.

Is there anybody left in Malta who still thinks the Vitals-Steward deal wasn’t a scam intended to swindle hundreds of millions of Maltese taxpayers’ money into the pockets of those who colluded in that criminal enterprise?

It wasn’t just Steward officials involved – that massive heist couldn’t have been pulled off without “high-ranking government officials”.  And we know who’s been charged: Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri.  But also Chris Fearne and Edward Scicluna.

Does anybody still believe Fearne’s claim that Steward was the real deal? Fearne must have known what Steward was up to.  Fearne must have known Ernst couldn’t be trusted.   Yet Fearne tried his utmost to convince us Steward’s interest in the concession was entirely noble.

Fearne was either the dumbest man alive or complicit in covering up the massive fraud of the Maltese people.

Now more details have emerged about the sordid links between Steward and Accutor, the company that paid Joseph Muscat tens of thousands of euro and which gave him a three-year contract worth €540,000, which could be extended indefinitely.

Konrad Mizzi also had his own lucrative Accutor contract. Keith Schembri indirectly benefited, too.

Nobody in his right mind doubts Muscat and his two close allies were part of that squalid deal.  Muscat desperately tried to guarantee his continued flow of money even as he was forced out – he turned up at Castille with Armin Ernst immediately after stepping down.

Everybody now accepts that the whole Vitals-Steward concession was the biggest heist in Malta’s history. And nobody’s surprised US federal agents detained Muscat’s friends – Ernst and de la Torre – and seized their phones.

That Muscat squeals in protest with every new raft of revelations is understandable.  That he throws all the spokes in the wheels of justice is entirely expected.  He knows justice will crush him if allowed to take its course.

What is entirely shocking is that Prime Minister Robert Abela continues to harness his entire political machinery to protect Muscat.

Abela knows what Muscat was up to.  He knows more than anybody else what happened with our hospitals and the hundreds of millions meant to fund them.

Yet he’s the one who, in parliament, commended Steward for all the work they’d done.  Abela worked hard to convince us Steward wasn’t a scam and that they contributed enormously to our healthcare system.

He’s responsible for his media machine’s constant sniping at the inquiry.  Labour’s ONE TV repeatedly takes potshots at the judicial process.  It does Muscat’s bidding when it discredits expert witnesses or parrots Muscat’s false assertions.

Prime Minister Abela led the assault on the magistrate conducting the inquiry.  He publicly harangued her, made her a figure of hate, and denounced the search at Muscat’s residence.  His ONE News published her image repeatedly and attacked her brother and father.

Abela accused her of political terrorism. The entire Labour propaganda machine repeatedly incited the mob, pointing out the ‘exorbitant’ cost of the inquiry or the experts’ invoices.

The most shocking part of the whole saga is not that hundreds of millions of our money were siphoned into the pockets of crooks. Labour keeps defending and protecting those allegedly responsible for those crimes – even now.

Labour’s on the side of the indicted instead of the side of justice.  It attacks the prosecution and defends those in the dock. Abela attacks the magistrate but doesn’t denounce Muscat for refusing to unlock his phone.

American authorities are investigating Steward’s transactions between 2018-2023.  Abela was prime minister in three of those years.

He kept funnelling money into Steward despite all the alarms. Only Opposition MP Adrian Delia’s court case forced his reluctant hand – and even then, Abela praised Steward.

Abela handed Steward more hundreds of millions of euro than Muscat did. He even roped in his father to negotiate with Steward for months to strike a better deal. That deal was practically done. The US ambassador was invited to the signing before it was called off at the last minute.

The question now is no longer whether the Vitals-Steward deal was a criminal conspiracy.  The question is why Abela keeps defending it.

Why does Abela’s ONE keep attacking the prosecution and the judiciary to protect Muscat?  Why is Labour’s executive member Jason Micallef calling for Muscat’s return?

Why does  Abela keep Jason Micallef in the party executive when he publicly calls for an indicted man to return to Labour’s leadership?

Why does Abela let Muscat keep his diplomatic passport despite facing such serious charges? Maybe it’s to shield him against any US extradition request.

The prime minister has no place defending those accused of robbing the nation. Abela should not be using his party propaganda machine to fight Muscat’s corner.

Abela shouldn’t be undermining the judiciary and the prosecution. Now that US federal agents are on the case, Abela obstinately defending Muscat looks even more ridiculous, even more self-destructive, and even more corrosive.

Yet Abela is still at it.  He is so terrified of Muscat that he takes his side against the people.

That isn’t normal.  It’s not right. A man who cannot defend the nation’s interests should not be its leader.