In today’s political scenario, our deepest values, such as justice, equity, family, work, respect, dignity and the value of human life, are being relegated to fancy words used in political discourse.

They are seldom used as principles when decisions are made regarding legislation and policy.

Instead of taking our values into consideration, political parties simply make their calculations based on what will get them the most votes. The race to gain the largest number of votes happens at the expense of values, which were once the very foundations of Maltese politics. This has led to our two main parties to be almost one and the same.

The best a politician can offer is no longer value-based politics and policy-making. Such good practice has been replaced by a customer-care style of politics in which politicians simply hand over what a voter wants, regardless of the short, medium or long-term implications.

I call this politics of supermarkets. The traditional political parties have become a place for voters to simply take what they want.

The nuclear family – which lies at the core of Maltese society – is being threatened by proposed new laws which show little or no regard for the dignity of life.

If we are not willing to face reality, we are leading ourselves down the path of destruction. We must certainly not normalise bad practices.

People of goodwill have a critical role to play at this crucial time. Whether you are a politician, a lawyer, a farmer, a nurse, a mother or a son, we all have something in common: we form part of a civil society. We must act collectively, to make sure that we do not stray so far down the rabbit hole as to no longer see the light.

There are two main points which must not be abandoned.

The nuclear family – which lies at the core of Maltese society – is being threatened- Edwin Vassallo

The first is the infallible dignity of life. This is not something which is given to you by anyone and, therefore, it is not something which can be taken away. No one can strip you of your fundamental right to life.

Human life begins from the moment of conception and ends with our natural death.

Second, the family unit consists of a man and woman who together – united in the value of holy matrimony – have children whom they raise to be people of good character.

If these two principles are the basis of our politics, then we will be witness to a healthy society which flourishes, rather than one which ends up with no values. To go against these principles is to go against natural law and our social fabric will cease to exist once we deviate from this.

We cannot fall into the trap of appeasing the few at the expense of the majority. This is especially the case when it comes to sociocultural issues, which tend to be the most controversial.

If the Labour government works against the values of life, the family and our nation through putting forward liberal proposals, the Nationalist Party should not support this. Rather, it should work to bring values back to the forefront of politics.

If both the government and the opposition lose sight of whom they are representing who will be there to defend the interests of our citizens?

Let us collectively – as one Maltese community – return to a politics which is clean and based on strong values.

To successfully overcome the challenges which lie ahead, we must first realise that such challenges exist and stop burying our heads in the sand.