Political parties are at their best and their worst during an electoral campaign. It was, therefore, commendable for President George Vella to appeal for moderation and respect in the language used and for the people’s intelligence to be respected.
However, an election is also an opportunity that can bring hope of a better political future for the country. This depends to a large extent on the choices made: by the people, the leadership of the parties and elected candidates.
The common good, rather than personal or sectoral interests, should be given priority by the electorate when choosing, the president wisely pointed out.
The qualities he mentioned when addressing himself to electoral candidates must also prevail among party leaders and party structures: honesty, transparent commitments, putting citizens’ interests first and service to the community.
“Our country,” Vella stressed, “needs unity and mutual respect.”
That statement may sound merely rhetorical but is what many would truly wish for, especially since a change in government is very unlikely.
At this difficult junction, the country and its parliament cannot remain a ‘house divided’ because its challenges cannot be properly tackled unless faced collectively. Malta’s difficulties include the strain on state finances from the pandemic, the stain on our international reputation from the atrocious governance of the last few years, the need to get off the grey list, the pressure towards tax harmonisation among countries, and the burning hot situation in Ukraine.
Hence, the need for the “consensus building” that Energy Minister Miriam Dalli spoke about in a recent article on The Sunday Times of Malta.
Referring to the Social Enterprise Act, she was upbeat about the all-round cooperation – including collaboration with the opposition – that led to its successful enactment.
“This element of consensus building, which is so second nature in the European institutions, is truly what I would love to see more of in our house of representatives. With less antagonism and a bit more mutual trust, we could achieve so much more,” the former MEP said.
And, writing in Times of Malta recently, Nationalist electoral candidate Alex Perici Calascione argued that the challenging post-grey-list phase “will require integrity as opposed to opportunism; respect as opposed to arrogance”.
He acknowledges that Malta has all it takes to make it and to do so successfully, and stresses that the “moment is far more national that it can ever be partisan”.
True, talk can be cheap and there is usually a great divide between words and action, especially in such a highly polarised country where scoring cheap political points is almost second nature to many politicians. But for the sake of the country and its people, that has to change. The sooner that transformation happens the better. A national effort to tackle present and future challenges needs to become a reality.
If their words are what we paid attention to, there are fewer significant differences between the two major political parties on matters of policy and ideology. In theory then, consensus on major issues should not be too difficult to achieve.
In weighing which politicians to favour, voters might therefore consider casting their preference for those who seem more likely to practise the art of compromise. They would vote for those who do not view electoral victory as some sort of ‘certificate’ that allows them to discard the need to govern for the common good based on sound principles.
They would vote for those who, in seeking to honour the will of the majority, show the character needed to respect the genuine wishes of the minority.