Civil society organisation Repubblika will chart a future for itself on Saturday when it holds its general meeting.
The meeting will look beyond the fundamental issues of rule of law and democratic rights, activist and committee member Manuel Delia said.
“A ‘new republic’ with a reformed constitution but without deeper changes in our social, cultural and economic make-up will be but an imperceptible paper change. We’re hoping for more,” he said.
Political parties were no longer providing any leadership in this respect, he said. Repubblika would, therefore, discuss issues such as an educational reform to address the “chasmic gaps” in the formation of young people, where a sense of responsible citizenship is seen as completely lacking.
“We think there is a direct link between schooling and awareness of democratic rights and duties in adults.
“When we see people openly speak on Facebook on what they think is politics as if they were members of suicide alien-worshipping cults and adulating political leaders caught robbing them from their tax money like turkeys enthusiastically voting for Christmas, we can only hope that reforming the education of future generations can equip those that will take the country over from us to choose better than our generation’s miserable choice of leaders.”
The NGO's leaders insisted at the national protest on Sunday that their organisation would not become a political party but would continue to pile pressure on the authorities and society to reform.
The organisation’s statute takes away voting rights from any members who are also political party officials. It also forces committee members seeking any nomination by a political party to resign their role in Repubblika.
There were no plans to change those rules Mr Delia told Times of Malta.
The meeting, which is also open to non-members who would like to sign up with the organisation, will also take a fresh look at the country’s economy.
More is not necessarily better, Mr Delia said, adding that greed was unsustainable and Repubblika wanted to see values of solidarity, compassion and sustainability complement values of entrepreneurship, creativity and initiative.
The lack of political options for electors was one of the greatest weaknesses of our democracy, he said, adding that it was the civil society organisation’s duty to highlight these gaps and criticise political parties for them.
We do not disagree that more political options on the ballot sheet would be a good idea. It’s just a job we’re not volunteering to do at this time
It was also its duty to make constructive suggestions on reforms and improvements. But no civil society organisation could possibly solve all problems by taking on other’s jobs, Mr Delia noted.
“We also think the chief of police is hopeless, but we don’t propose to head the police ourselves. We think parts of the judiciary are compromised by political interference. But we don’t propose to become judges ourselves.”
Repubblika could raise public awareness about people’s right to expect a working, constitutional and democratic republic and insist that the state’s obligations towards its citizens were met.
“We do not disagree that more political options on the ballot sheet would be a good idea. It’s just a job we’re not volunteering to do at this time.”