There is too much that is wrong with Malta’s present governance, institutions and politicians, and much has risen to the surface following the assassination of one of our journalists.

People are becoming concerned and there are now many who are starting to worry not only about Malta’s immediate future, but also about Maltese generations to come – our children and grandchildren. As ex­pressed in recent opinion pieces, people are now starting to wonder about what will be left of Malta to bequeath to our children.

Malta seems to have become locked in a downward spiral of corruption, opportunism and weak rule of law. Our country is now being sacrificed at the altar of money with a few becoming insanely rich and the remainder left behind. Malta’s assets and our nationality are being sold down the river and our environment is being systematically plundered before our very eyes by developers. Huge amounts of properties and assets are being sold off to well-off customers, and soon Malta won’t belong to us.

Our country is fast becoming a money-laundering centre and a tax haven for large commercial companies. This serves as a magnet for dirty money. The money might be flowing in, but it is only a few who are becoming insanely rich from our so-called economic boom while everybody else is left behind. Without long-term invest­ment in our country or local talent we are heading towards a situation where our economy might collapse like a pack of cards.

Added to our corruption, governmental incompetence  and  money-grubbing,  we are again plagued by ever-increasing  politi­cal polarisation and crude  partisan politics that is dividing us.

Albie Sachs is a former judge in the Constitutional Court of South Africa who had fought for racial equality in his country in the late 1900s. He was twice imprison­ed and is the survi­vor of an assassination attempt by means of a car bomb that blew off one of his arms.

In a recent interview, Sachs was asked the following question: “What should the next head of State of South Africa do differently?” Sachs’s reply was immediate and unhesitating; it was also uncanny in its applicability to our Malta of today.

Sachs’s answer was that strong emphasis should be laid on the following: restoring the integrity of institutions; creating conditions for serious and deep-down economic transformation while getting advice from as many sources as possible; cutting down on the bitterness and sharpness of the toxic elements of political debate; and the elimination of racism – the Maltese equivalent of which is our suffocating political polarisation which renders intelligent debate impossible.

If our leaders and politicians were only to heed Sachs’s advice, Malta would be a pleasanter place to live in. But there is little hope they will do so.

For this reason it is important not only that the series of protests organised by indepen­dent groups continue, but also that they intensify.

Malta deserves better.

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