Malta is celebrating 59 years as an independent sovereign nation.

This was Malta’s watershed moment.

George Borg Oliver, the architect of our independence, challenged the nation to go beyond its limitations and believe in itself. He then embarked on transforming our island into a vibrant modern nation.

Our next quantum leap came with the declaration of Malta as a republic. This time, it was Dom Mintoff’s turn to stand up for Malta.

The ensuing quantum step arrived when our nation decided to join the EU as an equal partner in the European project. This time, Eddie Fenech Adami inspired the nation. Against a background of a scrimmaging campaign by the Labour Party at the time, Eddie ushered in a new era. Gladly, today, there is a solid consensus regarding our EU accession.

With all our vicissitudes, this is our political past.

So what is our next quantum leap?

During these 59 years, Malta and its people have developed.

However, is our republic at crossroads, facing a political predicament? Are our constitutional structures, such as the police force, the attorney general, our political class, the national regulators, facing a meltdown?

The everlasting stories of systematic sleaze, cronyism and abysmal lack of good governance are becoming the norm rather than the exception. The latest scandal of the disability pension racket reaffirms that Labour is thoroughly rotten to the core.

Are all these everlasting episodes leading Malta to cease being a republic and reverting back instead into a feudal/colonial State?

The term republic implies power of and for the people. It means that the common good overrides the interest of the few. It signifies that the ‘we’ ought to take precedent over the ‘I’. Politicians are to safeguard and promote the welfare of the many over the interests of the few.

On the contrary, the term feudal/colonial underlines the supremacy of the few. It implies that a small number of influential and powerful people have direct or covert control over the affairs of the State.

Sadly, particular developers, businesspersons and other mafia-like people are behind the throne, pulling strings and planning how to appease their inflated egos. We have been taken for a ride, thinking we are living in a republic when, in fact, we are not.

Labour has definitely lost the high moral ground. How can the prime minister govern with a clean slate when his government’s hands are covered with blood, fraud and an everlasting list of systematic corruption?

We have been taken for a ride, thinking we are living in a republic when, in fact, we are not- Albert Buttigieg

What we now urgently require is a quantum leap to get out of this predicament. The leap that can spare us the democratic breakdown is to become truly a European State.

Although we have been EU members for these last 19 years, we still do not act like Europeans. Being Mediterranean does not excuse us for our failure to embrace European standards, in particular regarding our governance.

We also need our citizens to act like Europeans. If a number of scandals we experienced were to have rocked other European countries, surely their citizens would not have acted like sheep. European citizens are active and assertive citizens.

We must embark urgently on making the various levels of institutions of governance truly independent and autonomous (from the executive). We need to be bold enough to usher in a European way of thinking, especially if we want to save our environment from further degeneration. On the other hand, our politicians, including myself, must embrace Europe’s best political practices.

It is not enough to be an EU member.

Although we are proud of being Maltese and of our identity/heritage, we need to be Europeans in the true sense of the term.

In short, we need a radical shift of mentality regarding education, urban planning, inclusion, employment, traffic management, quality of life, enforcement, tourism, managing local councils, doing politics and our economic model, among others.

We badly need a European overhaul.

Failing to carry this out will compel more young people to leave the island, risking having a brain-drained nation.

Borg Oliver, Mintoff and Fenech Adami’s successes were in challenging the nation to think big, notwithstanding the obstacles faced.

We want our political leaders to be bold enough to inspire us to undergo the next quantum leap forward, that is, the European quantum leap.

I am in.

Albert Buttigieg is Nationalist spokesperson for a better standard of living.