Rule of law group Repubblika has written to the police to prosecute seven people connected to the driving license racket, who contacted Transport Malta’s Clint Mansue to help pass candidates.

The seven, all government officials, are:

1. Mark Sammut, sitting PBS executive chairman and former Transport Malta official
2. Pierre Montebello, head of Transport Malta’s land transport directorate
3. Rachel Debono, former PA to Transport Malta’s chairman and now secretary to Prime Minister Robert Abela
4. Ray Mizzi, former OPM customer care official and canvasser for Social Policy Minister Michael Falzon
5. Michael Buhagiar, chief of staff to Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri
6. Glorianne Micallef Portelli, person of trust within Ian Borg’s secretariat
7. Antonella Agius Micallef, a person of trust within Ian Borg’s secretariat

Failure to do so, the letter read, would lead to the group taking legal action against Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa’.

The letter was signed by lawyer Jason Azzopardi.

The scandal involves pressure placed on Transport Malta (TM) by the Transport Ministry to help candidates obtain driving licenses. WhatsApp chats acquired by the newsroom even show OPM officials connecting the practice to wanting to win votes.

Similarly, one examiner was told that he would have to answer to the minister if a bus-driving candidate failed.

More chats revealed Borg, his canvasser, and his ministry regularly applying pressure on TM’s director of licensing Clint Mansueto to help candidates with their tests, some of whom came from Borg’s electoral districts.

Hundreds of candidates were passed on to Mansueto to fast-track their tests and for help to secure a driving license, according to the Times of Malta.

Chats further showed that some candidates were told not to allow their driving instructor to be present in the vehicle during the exam, to make the corruption easier to execute.

Requests for driving license aid ranged from an OPM VVIP client to candidates who lacked the skills to pass.   

Mansueto, as well as two TM clerks,  Philip Edrick Zammit, and Raul Antonio Pace, face corruption and trading in influence in connection with the scheme; charges which they deny.

It was reported that state officials would highlight names of candidates to Mansueto, who was prosecuted in August 2022,  who would then assign those candidates to easy examiners or move them up the notoriously long and slow queue for a driving test. The two clerks allegedly complied.

In reaction, several politicians and activists alike are speaking up, calling for the minister’s resignation and pointing out the seemingly unavoidable corruption flowing through Prime Minister Robert Abela’s administration.

Who should be held responsible for this scandal?