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What France’s Offshore Scandal Teaches Us About The One In Malta

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In case you missed it, France elected a new President yesterday. His name is Emmanuel Macron and in the last few days of the campaign, he was accused of having an undeclared offshore account in the Bahamas. As Malta heads to the polls with a Prime Minister facing similar allegations, the parallels cannot be ignored. So what can France’s scandal teach us about ours?

First of all, what happened in France?

Three days before the election, candidates Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen went head to head in a TV debate. Two hours before, 4chan and other websites spread rumours and documents which allegedly showed Macron held an offshore bank account in the Caribbean. So Le Pen used the opportunity to raise the issue in a debate.

This is what Le Pen said: “I hope we will not find out, Mr Macron, that you have an offshore account in the Bahamas.”

Macron refuted the suggestion as “defamation”, filed a legal complaint and later said: “I’ve never had an account in any tax haven… Le Pen is behind this. She has an internet army mobilising.”

Crucially, however, the documents which purported to have formed part of an email hack on Macron, were proven to be fake. See the process France24 undertook to debunk the theory and prove they were photoshopped.

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And what’s happening in Malta?

In Malta, offshore company allegations are not so much a last-minute ploy in a hard-fought election, as much as they are the reason a snap election was called in the first place. After a year of defending his two closest aides despite their undeclared companies in Panama, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat now faces allegations that his wife was the beneficial owner of a third company set up in with the other two. 

The allegations are not being made by an anonymous website but by Daphne Caruana Galizia, a blogger who has written about politics in Malta for decades and who was the first person to expose the Panamanian companies of Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Keith Schembri last year. However, she is also a highly controversial figure who has been slapped with countless libel suits and is viewed by her critics as an extension of the Nationalist Party. Another difference is that Caruana Galizia got her information from a Russian woman who has come forward as a whistleblower and has even given her testimony to an inquiring magistrate. 

So what can we learn? Here are four lessons…

For the Maltese voters

Documents can be verified or fact-checked when they have been published. 

The biggest problem facing the Maltese voter is that the documents which allegedly link Michelle Muscat to Egrant Inc, have not yet been presented. Only transcripts were published so far. This means no verification can take place. Once documents are published, it could then be fairly easy to check whether they are real or falsified. Having said that, it’s not yet possible to dismiss the Maltese allegations as mere lies when there is a whistleblower putting her neck on the line and when the Prime Minister’s explanations on Panama Papers have been so unsatisfactory. 

Documents

For Daphne Caruana Galizia and the whistleblower 

The longer you wait to publish the documents, the more they will be met with suspicion.

Saving the documents for the last moments of a campaign can help take over the news cycle at a crucial juncture – but it also could imply doubt in the documents themselves. Why not publish the documents beforehand if you know they are real and cannot be debunked? They should be published as soon as possible, so the press can verify them and the electorate can be better informed.

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For Prime Minister Joseph Muscat

It’s much easier to dismiss allegations as lies when there is no context behind them. 

On the other hand, when your two closest aides have been outed as owners of secret companies in Panama – and you’ve kept them by your side despite so much criticism – it’s no surprise that allegations stick when a third company is suddenly associated to you. And that’s to say nothing of all the other context: the refusal to face the Pana Committee before the election, the seeming reluctance of the police and the AG to investigate FIAU reports, the damning leaks from Pilatus Bank and the calling of a snap election before a magisterial inquiry can be concluded. 

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For Opposition leader Simon Busuttil

Latching onto an unproven allegation can cost you big time.

Simon Busuttil has not only taken the local allegations as gospel truth – he has practically based his party’s entire electoral campaign on this premise. If the documents are published and prove to be real, this may just win him an otherwise very unlikely election. But if they’re not? His judgement would be severely called into question and he will be seen as a leader who did anything to claw into power. 

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What else can we learn from France? Have your say in the comments below or on Facebook.

READ NEXT: Egrant Exposed Part 4: Six Things We Fact-Checked About The Whistleblower

Christian is an award-winning journalist and entrepreneur who founded Lovin Malta, a new media company dedicated to creating positive impact in society. He is passionate about justice, public finances and finding ways to build a better future.

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