Since retiring here, we have seen, experienced and observed life. Our experience here is wonderful. We made friends with Maltese citizens in our block and the surrounding area of Naxxar. It opened us up to things and ideas that we would never have discovered ourselves or at a much later date.
Sharing my thoughts on the just-concluded election, as a former student of political science in the US, I learned many things about governance and politics, as well as some things about other countries.
Having participated in party politics in the US, what we have seen, heard and read about politics here in Malta gives me pause. It leaves me with many thoughts, both good and not so good. In the opinion of my neighbours, as well as myself, we would characterise politics here as a blood sport.
Politics has an everyday intensity that outlasts political campaigns. When someone has a critique of the Labour Party, the typical retort is usually about when the PN was guilty of the same offence some years ago. And when the PN complains about the PL, it is often presented as the PL has always behaved this way.
There seems to be no desire on either side to debate. During this campaign, there was more rock-throwing/self-aggrandisement than debate. No party denies faults, just redirects blame.
A formal election campaign that lasted five weeks was bliss to us. In the United States, it lasts two years but feels like a lifetime. No chance for the elected president to govern before he is immersed in winning re-election.
Like Malta, the US has two major parties, albeit some independents get elected in the House of Representatives and the senate. In both systems, it is stacked against third parties. But, at least, women are gaining a larger presence in the governing bodies in the US. The provision for ‘women’ seats in Malta is provided only if just PN and PL members exist and if enough women are not elected on their own ability. And if a third-party candidate gets elected, all bets are off. If women were more respected in Malta, more would run for elections here. As it currently stands, women are treated as a ‘special’ circumstance.
Many Maltese look on in horror as fewer people voted this year compared to in 2017. Total ballots cast were 85 per cent. In the United States, the total in 2020 was 66 per cent. While there are fewer voting, the Maltese still show a great enthusiasm for voting. That is a positive. But the key point observed here is that people will not vote when they have no reason to vote.
Does Malta need so large a parliament? Or even districts?- Alan Zelt
In the United States, there are steps taken by some states towards limiting voting by political parties in charge. They actively seek to deny or make it difficult to register/vote. In many cases, this is aimed at minorities. The right to vote in Malta is straightforward.
Both Malta and the US have growing numbers of non-voting people. In most cases, this is attributed to neither party offering realistic answers to growing concerns. Both PL and PN non-voters increased. As I see it, the PL’s increased advantage over the PN was mostly down to a larger increase of non-voting PN members.
You can’t win elections by continually calling your opposition corrupt and call them Ġaħan and not offering a definitive agenda. Saying you are not Labour is not a good reason for the PN. And for the PL members, there is a nascent sense of when will this corruption, unbridled construction and no real programmes for a sustainable environment, as well as incremental steps to solve the traffic problems, cease.
If you build more roads, there will be more cars. There is an old saying in Los Angeles that one-third of the cars are always on the freeways, so that the other two-thirds can park. In short, I get the sense that neither party is very forward- looking, except in rhetoric. Labour wants the metro, even if it is cost-prohibitive and takes 30 years. The Nationalists want a trackless tram, which will diminish lanes. Why not just dedicate space for buses now?
Your parties can see when you don’t vote but not if you mis-voted. Parties shouldn’t have access to who voted.
There was the constant drip-drip of cheques going out to citizens right before the election. Yes, the PL said it was long-planned. Why didn’t they better separate the time when they were sent out from the election date? Better to avoid the appearance of buying votes.
An ingrained part of elections is the ability for any person running for parliament to run in more than one district. Why? No one seems to be able to explain it to me. And if you win on both districts, you (or your party) gets to choose which one you give up. And the open seat is filled by a ‘casual election’. Not sure how the voter gains on that. But co-option? The parties can replace one elected person with someone else that they choose. More like a chess match instead of an election.
Does Malta need so large a parliament? Or even districts? And, now with the ability to add up to 12 women in addition to the normal members, the size makes no sense.