In her latest sermon in The Times of Malta, Vicki Ann Cremona wrapped herself in the language of moral guardianship, lecturing us that “civil society is democracy’s conscience.” According to her, NGOs like Repubblika are there to “hold up a mirror to power,” to “stand up against corruption even when it is normalised,” and to “ask difficult questions when institutions fail.” It’s a beautiful hymn to accountability. Stirring, even.
But like so much of what passes as Repubblika rhetoric, it collapses under the weight of its own double standards. Because when corruption arises from within their own political backyard, their mirror suddenly fogs over—and their megaphone falls silent.
Take the case of Francine Farrugia, the PN councillor from Siġġiewi currently facing trial for allegedly siphoning off millions from MCAST funds into property, cars, and even a staggering €113,000 spending spree at Harrods. The scandal is monumental. It cut deep into education funds, into taxpayers’ money, into the future of Maltese students. If ever there was a textbook case for activists to “defend the vulnerable” and “demand accountability,” this was it.
And what did Cremona and Repubblika do? Nothing.
No press release.
No condemnation.
Not even a token Facebook post.
Vicki Ann Cremona
The silence was deafening. Because Farrugia is one of theirs—a Nationalist activist, part of the same political tribe that Repubblika has always carefully shielded. Cremona’s “pillar of democracy” suddenly turns to ash when the cracks appear in her side of the partisan fence.
This is the fatal hypocrisy at the heart of her sermon. Civil society, she tells us, must “speak in the name of the republic, not the government.” And yet under her leadership, Repubblika does exactly the opposite: it speaks in the language of selective justice, keeping its fire exclusively for Labour corruption while handing out indulgences to Nationalist sins.
To be clear, corruption is corruption—whether it wears a red or blue rosette. For the MCAST millions to vanish under the watch of a PN councillor is every bit as obscene as any scandal under Labour. The difference is that Repubblika’s outrage machine only activates when the colour suits its politics. When it hits closer to home, Cremona and company “play dumb.”
In the end, Cremona’s words crumble under the weight of her silence. A civil society that only cries foul when it suits partisan interests isn’t a guardian of democracy – it’s an accomplice in its decay.
If Cremona cannot condemn corruption in her own camp, then she has no authority to preach about democracy at all.
