It is rather ironic that of the 27 countries in the European Union only one has to abide by a provision in its Constitution of holding a referendum on matters which may affect its citizens' way of life. This is why the people of Ireland voted recently in a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty - and rejected it.
The other 26 countries, including Malta, opted for ratification by their parliament and basically ignored their people's views on the Lisbon Treaty.
Obviously, following the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty by French and Dutch voters in a referendum, Brussels thought it wiser to play it safe and have the Lisbon Treaty approved by parliaments.
The Irish were always known for their staunch support of the EU, so the outcome of the referendum should not have been in doubt - or so the European Commission thought.
Yet the people of Ireland thought otherwise and rejected the new Lisbon Treaty. The result, as we know, threw the EU leaders into a panic.
However, even though the unanimity of the 27 EU states is required for the treaty to take effect, a number of EU leaders are insisting that the ratification process should continue in the other seven states which have not yet approved the treaty.
Their argument is that the 1.5 million Irish who voted in the referendum should not stop the implementation of the treaty.
As far as Malta is concerned, our only regret, it seems, is that we will not get our sixth seat in the European Parliament, as per the Lisbon Treaty.
Such reasoning goes against the principles of democracy which some politicians think should apply only when their objectives are achieved. How is it that certain individuals believe that they know better than what the common citizen feels?
Irish voters, for their own reasons, said no to the Lisbon Treaty. Everybody should respect this decision. Malta and other countries should not regret the loss of the sixth seat or that the treaty has to be renegotiated. This is all part of the democratic game.
I wonder what would have happened if all 27 EU states had held a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Would this have been approved by each country? But as I said, some people think they know better than others what ordinary people should do. Except for the Irish.