President George Vella has called a national conference on unity for the end of the month. The initiative deserves support. Why would anyone possibly oppose such a worthy ideal as ‘unity’?

In a press conference, Vella outlined some of his thoughts on the topic. He pointed out that unity is achieved around common goals and he proposed exploring some of the economic, social and environmental causes that could attract consensus. He proposed nationhood as a rallying point, arising from a better appreciation of history and language and a greater sense of belonging to community and country.

He was forthright enough to acknowledge the loss of trust in the country’s institutions and in one another.

He appealed for a spirit of constructive criticism and participation by the public in the conference but was clear he has no illusions about the difficulty of achieving change.

The president must be aware that, if this conference is to at least inspire the beginnings of real change – rather than produce a mere litany of insincere platitudes and ineffective pledges – some uncomfortable subjects will need to be tackled head-on.

If unity entails the bridging of divisions, then the issues that divide the country most sharply will need to be debated, however sensitive they are.

Among them, for example, is corruption and nepotism, hugely divisive factors in our society.

So too is the perceived lack of justice, from the never-ending shocking revelations over the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia to politicians who constantly  avoid accountability for their dubious dealings.

And then there is the source of much of the division in this country: the political media, that toxic stream of one-sided reports now subject to a constitutional case for breaching the principle of impartiality. A unity conference cannot but tackle this major obstacle to unity.

In this light, it is not clear what the president means when he says he wants to leave partisan politics out of it.  Any movement towards unity must start and end with politics: it is politicians who need to work together towards shared goals, and partisan politics is also part of that equation.

If the president’s initiative is to be meaningful, divisive political issues cannot be treated like so many elephants in the room. They need to be confronted head-on.

They also represent some of the fundamental norms – clean governance, justice, accountability and impartiality in the media – that our country is supposed to be committed to as a democracy. Agreement on them is the foundation of national unity. Unity cannot be fostered without the conviction that all sides genuinely want to move closer to fulfilling these values. Only then can there be the spirit of trust and respect required for the different factions to work together towards common objectives.

The conference also needs to tackle the country’s fundamental problem with the overall lack of critical thinking in Malta, which is brought about mainly by our education system.

Vella’s initiative comes in tandem with the long-anticipated constitutional reform he is shepherding. The unity conference should not be a one-off event but deserves to be extended to village squares and social media platforms, for a truly national discussion to take place.

But it will fail at the first hurdle if it seeks merely to paper over the cracks instead of confronting the chasms openly, honestly, courageously and respectfully.

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