Malta cannot have an Opposition that is weak, fragile and inherently broken, according to three academics who believe that a small democracy requires "an even stronger opposition".
Social Wellbeing faculty dean Andrew Azzopardi, and Economics Faculty lecturers Stepahnie Fabri and George Vital Zammit said in a statement on Thursday that political leadership needed to assume its responsibility not to party constituents but the broader Maltese population and society.
"Failure to do so would be a threat to our democratic foundations and values. Political power is essentially a responsibility to transform what we already have into something better for the good of the community," the three said.
On Wednesday Nationalist MPs met to decide the next steps after Delia announced he would stay on as leader of the party and opposition, despite losing a vote of no confidence on Tuesday.
The University of Malta academics said that the importance of leadership and good governance can never be overstated.
"This is even more so in challenging times as the COVID-19 experience has shown us. With strong leadership and combined efforts of different stakeholders, Malta managed to cope with a public health challenge extremely well, especially when compared to other countries.
"It is time that such leadership is demonstrated in other key pressing challenges that Malta is currently facing," they added.
'A malaise of the political system'
They flagged recent court proceedings and investigative journalism revelations.
From institutions crippled by inaction, to a political system that is too close to the business sector, even after certain facts came to light, there is no other way to call this but a general malaise of the political system, they said.
They called on people and the State to take a step back and look at the bigger picture: the disease and rot did not appear overnight and is not the result of current governance.
It is "the product of a willful neglect and closing a blind eye to what is happening around us due to a potent mix of apathy, greed and self-interest brought about by an utter contempt for the common good."
We should not tolerate corruption or trading in influence, and we have a right to demand transparency, honesty and accountability from our elected representatives, they said.
It was time we looked at a reform and overhaul of our current political system including parties in government and in opposition, the academics said.
"What we have seen in recent years is a sad spectacle where the benchmark of expectations kept getting lower and lower. The only thing that mattered it seems, is political survival. We assisted towards the creation of alternative realities, where politicians painted pictures distant from the truth," they added.