It is time for action

A building under construction suddenly gave way in December 2022. Photo: Jonathan Borg

The news that a copy of the findings of the public inquiry on the tragic death of Jean Paul Sofia, who died when a building under construction suddenly gave way, will be passed on to the commissioner of police, among others, absolutely thrills me.

Expect the unexpected or just lie still, as happened in other inquiries, even in the case of a magisterial inquiry.

Our commissioner of police would need more than a prod or two to take criminal action against those responsible, of who there are more than one or two. Such onus equally falls on the shoulders of the attorney general whose vision is to provide qualty prosecution duties to the people of Malta.

Anthony J. Saliba – St Paul’s Bay

Politicians, not puppets

I have been following local and European politics closely for the last 20 years. One thing that really irritates me is the fact that most politicians in our country and even in other European member states are not able to act on thorny issues and override tactical challenges to major issues that needed to be cleared.

There have been times during the last 20 years where politicians failed us because difficult decisions that should have been made at the first place were not made.

Why is it so difficult for our politicians to take the bull by the horns?

Undoubtedly, one reason why politicians do not make tough decisions is because they fear losing their constituents’ votes. However, politics should not revolve solely on the needs of one individual or those who form part of a particular electoral district. It should focus primarily on the common good of our country/continent.

As I see it, an exemplary politician is one that uses his or her position to instigate positive change and push forward ideas that meet the needs of our society, even if these decisions might pave the way for shedding votes.

One might argue that a particular proposal being pushed forward does not form part of the electoral manifesto of the party. Therefore, it would not, for instance, be fair to introduce a law or policy when the electorate did not vote for it. True. The electoral manifesto should be the general guidelines followed by the party in government but along the legislature there will for sure be other things that will need to be tackled head-on and which would not feature in the manifesto.

Thus, politicians should not shy away from pushing forward ideas and implement policies to tackle persistent issues, unless they just want to be puppets.

Kevin Mercieca – Żurrieq