The malaise of Malta : social divisions, weak institutions, and political partisanship

Abstract

“There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate.” These words were published on the popular blog of the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on the 16 October 2017 at 2.35 pm. Ten minutes later, and less than a hundred meters from her house in the rural hamlet of Bidnija, her car was up in flames. Mrs Caruana Galizia had just left her home to run an errand. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a much-debated figure in Malta. Highly polarising and hugely controversial she was critical of the actions of various government and opposition officials. She used her blog, in addition to a bi-weekly column in The Malta Independent, to highlight corruption allegations against various politicians, judges, people in business and political apparatchiks. Caruana Galizia was highly critical of the way the country was being government as well as the weakening of the rule of law.