The overwhelming victory by the Labour Party in both elections confirms that the majority of the electorate feel they don’t want to change the status quo. The economic boom that our country is passing through seems, somehow, to be affecting positively a great section of our society. On the other hand the dismal performance by the Nationalist Party confirms that a change in leadership did in no way improve the party’s performance.
As Joe Borg, former PN minister and European Commissioner, asserted in The Sunday Times of Malta (June 2), “The latest election result was not so much a Labour victory as it was a PN defeat.”
He also pointed out that “the single most determining factor is the large number of voters who didn’t cast their vote and who are assumed to be largely PN sympathisers, especially since they hail mainly from areas that have traditionally voted for the PN”.
Silence, very often, speaks louder than words. For 100,000 voters (27.3 per cent) of the electorate to have decided to stay at home and not bother to cast their vote is worrying. Their indifference, disinterest, apathy or anger has to be addressed by both parties. Next time round this silent minority needs to make a direct impact on the result of the elections.
People seem to be arguing more about the humiliating defeat of the Nationalist Party, which for so many years had been the party that inspired the electorate with its vision and values, rather than about the record victory of the Labour Party.
The majority of the Maltese back either of the two main parties. Due to the blinkers they wear, they tend to see things from the red or blue perspective only. Unfortunately, when analysing election results, we tend to focus more on the outcome of the two main parties rather than on whether policies are affecting our society at large.
We are all aware that in the months preceding these elections there were hot issues that were bothering various sectors of society. It would be sufficient to mention the havoc caused by overdevelopment, the devastating state of our environment, immigration and hate speech, the Venice Commission and Greco reports, corruptive practices and the power of incumbency, and the report on the rule of law just presented to the Council of Europe Committee which showed that our institutions are not fully independent and that checks and balances are frail.
Let Joseph Muscat…harp more on national lasting values than on economic growth
Normally, electors send warning signals to the government of the day but in our case it seems that the government was encouraged to stay put in spite of the many disgruntled voices on various important issues.
Isn’t it worrying to realise that Norman Lowell’s far-rightist and Imperium Europa leader got no fewer than 9,693 votes when he had in the past been found guilty of inciting racial hatred for comments he had made related to migration and who, lately, in an interview favoured mercy killing of human beings with a disability?
With both Archbishop Charles Scicluna and President George Vella commenting recently on the rise of hate speech and xenophobia in our society, it is alarming to see our society – our Christian society – being gradually eroded and transformed into a selfish and egocentric society.
The President’s remarks in a ‘Stop Hate’ campaign conference in Valletta are worth heeding. “It is painful to note”, Dr Vella said, “that even locally xenophobic and racist movements are openly using hate speech and making their presence felt at national level”.
This is what worries us citizens of good will who want our nation to shine as a beacon of Christian values. What’s the use of projecting Malta as a multicultural society when we hear Maurice Mizzi, the Guardian of Future Generations, make anti-Muslim remarks, telling The Sunday Times of Malta that Muslims were taking over and that the country should stop all migrants from coming in?
Let the PN “rethink, refound, rebuild and relaunch” as Louis Galea, former PN Minister and General Secretary, advised, but let its principles and vision be well-defined and based on Christian values and not on populist trends if it wants to remain known as a Christian Democratic Party. Let the Labour Party celebrate and be proud of its glorious victory but let Joseph Muscat, who at the moment enjoys great popularity, instil in his followers a great sense of empathy and harp more on national lasting values than on economic growth. Now is his chance to stop the massacre that over-development and economic growth have brought with them.
A piece of good advice to the leaders of both parties from Albert Bandura, from his enlightened book Moral Disengagement, would help: “Forethought enables people to transcend the dictates of their immediate environment and to shape and regulate the present to realise a desired future. When projected over a long-term course on matters of value, a forethoughtful perspective provides direction, coherence and meaning to one’s life,” Bandura asserts.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece
Mark Anthony Falzon is not appearing this week.