The findings of the latest State of the Nation survey indicate that the Maltese are becoming increasingly jealous of their fundamental human rights.

Respondents who felt their human rights are being adequately protected dropped from 67.4 per cent last year to 58.2 per cent. Those who think they are not have shot up from 5.7 per cent in 2022 to 10 per cent this year.

Why is that happening? The reasons are likely to be many and varied.

A few years back, Chief Justice Emeritus Vincent De Gaetano had publicly expressed concern that public awareness of what fundamental human rights entail in practice was lacking in Malta.

The former European Court of Human Rights judge had noticed what he defined as “an almost flippant attitude” when discussing issues like immigration, refugees, appointments to government boards, the duration of judicial proceedings and the way criminal investigations are carried out.

That was way back in 2015 when the writing on the wall started to appear, even thanks to Daphne Caruana Galizia’s blogs, but the crooks were still roaming freely, as some of them still do. However, the ‘earthquake’ that rocked and keeps rocking Malta as a result of her revelations and assassination may be the reason why people are becoming more sensitive about their human rights.

It brings to mind what Italian jurist and politician Piero Calamandrei once said: that freedom being like air, you only realise its worth when it starts to lack.

A historical observation may be in order to better understand what could be happening.

Malta acceded to the European Convention of Human Rights in 1966-67. However, jurists like De Gaetano would note it was in the late 1970s and early 1980s, in view of the prevailing political situation, that the legal profession and then citizens became sensitive to the idea of fundamental human rights and alert to both direct and indirect violations of such rights.

History may be repeating itself. In fact, as emerged from a recent Eurobarometer study, the majority of the Maltese do not like the manner in which democracy is working. For them, it is not working. Also, the percentage of those who feel their voice still counts has dropped sharply.

The fact, as established by the third edition of the State of the Nation study, that the number of those who feel they are part of Europe keeps steadily rising could indicate they are seeking standards, in all spheres of life, beyond those obtaining in Malta.

"History may be repeating itself. In fact, as emerged from a recent Eurobarometer study, the majority of the Maltese do not like the manner in which democracy is working. For them, it is not working. Also, the percentage of those who feel their voice still counts has dropped sharply"

Worrying, however, is the percentage of respondents preferring to have been born and bred elsewhere, which has risen from 12.6 per cent in 2022 to 18.5 per cent. Those who say they would not have liked it dropped from just over 80 per cent to almost 75 per cent.

Fewer people now consider politics to be a very important element in their lives, which means the crop of tomorrow’s politicians is likely to be even more limited than it is now. Only 70 per cent plan to vote in the next general election, with more than 11 per cent saying they will not do so and nearly 19 per cent remaining undecided.

Overall, the findings show a nation that is digging itself ever deeper into a hole when it comes to areas like human rights, democracy and political participation. 

The country’s leaders, both politicians and institutions, need to conduct an examination of conscience. The trend is unmistakable. More citizens than ever get the feeling they are being hoodwinked.