Last Sunday, the Prime Minister set the right tone when he made a genuine appeal in favour of a leap forward in the quality of parliamentary debate and for an end to confrontational drums.

The appeal was made one day after Parliament reopened its doors, and one day before we began to debate the motion on the President's speech outlining Government's plans for the coming five years.

It is still too early to gauge or make sweeping statements, but that appeal has not fallen on deaf areas. Last week, MPs from both sides were not always agreeing with each other's arguments or points of emphasis, but the debate was a civil and mature one befitting all the Maltese people. Moreover, both sides of the House recognised unequivocally that the Maltese people have decided that Malta would join the European Union and that decision is to be respected.

Symptoms of a more civil approach to parliamentary life could be seen on opening day as well. Government gave up one seat of its majority in appointing Anton Tabone as Speaker. The Opposition seconded and the appointment was unanimous. The Deputy Speaker will be chosen from the Opposition benches while a pairing agreement as existed at the beginning of the 1996 and 1998 legislatures is expected. When Parliament reconvenes this Tuesday, it will appoint the Deputy Speaker.

There is no mistaking the fact that the Labour Party general conference, over the last two weeks, has made sensible choices about the persons to fill the post of deputy leader for party affairs, and of deputy leader for parliamentary affairs. They are persons who value synergies with the Government benches while working hard to give the Opposition a new image.

It is far too early to predict whether this kind of momentum will be maintained by other choices that the Labour Party still has to make on the rest of the party officials. Much less can one predict what the Labour media will look and sound like in the coming months.

What one can certainly say - and this is unfortunate - is that so far the Labour media are proving rather resistant to any change in favour of objectivity, the truth and being more credible. One augurs that this state of affairs does not have to last for long but so far, so bad!

One probability is that the MLP will seek an exit route from the kind of isolation and introversion it had imposed upon itself by boycotting programmes like Xarabank and Bondi+, stretching the absurdity to a philanthropic marathon of the likes of L-Istrina.

It is in the national interest to have a more credible Opposition. Ultimately we are one Maltese people and hysterics or confrontational attitudes by any segment within us only serves to mar the country's image and reputation.

Even when the referendum and general election campaign were going through their most tense and nerve-wracking phases, Government had stood by its belief that once the people of Malta make their decision, the nation will rally behind the decision, whatever that may be. It might have taken us an act of faith to assert such a principle especially when the Opposition had rejected the people's verdict in the referendum. Contemporary history, however, is proving that our faith was not misplaced.

This is our country's unique opportunity. Through EU membership, our political climate is about to change radically. This is the time to have one Maltese melody. Only by being united as a people can we maximise on the openings that lie ahead of us. MPs who are representing us at the European Parliament and its committees are going through a new experience and understanding that the mileage we can make together far surpasses what can be achieved if we try to go through separate ways.

Melodies do not require monotones. A fundamental principle of the EU happens to be the ability to achieve unity through diversity. What applies across the 25 countries which, on May 1, 2004, will make up the Union, applies as well within the confines of each and every sovereign country that forms part of the European family.

Stability is crucial for our country and the time to make that happen is now. In this respect, it is also reassuring to read of a commitment that has been made by the former Labour Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Dr George Vella, when last Wednesday he met the vice-president of the Party of European Socialists (PES), Marinus Wiersma.

The European Socialists were expressing concern about the fact that the Malta Labour Party only enjoyed observer status within the European Socialist Group and even more so about the links that the party had developed with Eurosceptics, usually hailing from far-right and xenophobic groupings who by definition are hardly among the socialist brothers and sisters that sit within the European Parliament.

Dr Vella has told the European Socialists that the MLP has no intention of pulling Malta out of the EU and that the party wants to work within the European Socialist group, upholding that group's values and principles.

Before the new request by the MLP is discussed and presumably approved this September, a working group of the PES will be coming to Malta this summer to discuss this matter. It is known that that the MLP has been 'tempted' by a formal proposal to ally itself with the Eurosceptics. Had the party agreed to such a proposal, it would have done itself more irreparable harm!

Significantly, in Brussels Dr Vella also met the president of the PES, Robin Cook who had spoken frankly with our Prime Minister about his own conversion on EU policies.

Another interesting development has been the fact that Labour leader Alfred Sant as well as Dr Vella have put in writing their own position with regard to the Constitution of the EU, now in its final drafting stages.

The Prime Minister pointed out in Parliament last Wednesday that this reflects a post-election and post-referendum attitude. In his intervention, the Leader of the Opposition sought to emphasise that the Opposition accepted the new reality Malta was in and would not say 'no' to everything.

Reference to acting in the national interest has been made by both sides of the House. At this historic juncture, our country expects no less from all the elected representatives of the people. It will be during the present legislature that Malta assumes the benefits and obligations of EU membership and that is the most important reality which faces us all.

When the people opted for membership, they did so after a very intense debate on the subject. The people's verdict is final and this is the appropriate time for the country to grab the different opportunities that come along with membership and to be able to make that much more of an impact as a result of the new political climate that is being created in our country.

Over the last couple of days, the representatives of Government and Opposition have been making their contribution to the debate on the Constitution of Europe, and yesterday the Prime Minister participated as one of the heads of government of the enlarged EU in the historic EU-Russia summit that took place with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg.

The country is going through an exciting learning curve. Our participation in the different EU institutions will need to be structured and focused. Equally, the way we manage our own affairs in Malta will be the more effective through a process of co-ownership with the various stakeholders just as no fewer than 31 organisations making up our civil society had co-owned the negotiation process leading up to EU membership.

In all these respects, acting together will provide us with the incredible strength that only such synergies can produce. That is the harmony and the more enriching experience we can build up by working on one Maltese melody.

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