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Would you ever have imagined, editorials in The Times which are critical of the Nationalist government, an Alfred Sant running a low key keep quiet campaign and the Nationalist party filing a libel against the editor of an independent newspaper? Whatever is happening? Well the times they are changing.
A totally new and fast changing landscape is developing in the country. People’s lifestyle, their habits and trends together with their political allegiances are changing. The media is of course highlighting these changes. We are moving ever closer to a European lifestyle living in a more liberal and secular environment. We are undergoing the Europeanisation of Malta. It is a new ball game.
The priorities are also changing in the sense that people expect instant gratification: the quick realisation of their desires. We are living in a society where people want to see touch and experience the visible deliverables. They make a direct link between how they are being led and how they live.
Their prime focus is quality of life. Indeed this will be the main issue come the next General election. The battle ground will no longer be the restoration of democracy or European membership. No more mothers of battles, just a simple question being asked by the voters: am or am I not living better? This is the issue that will permeate throughout the next four years. Can I afford or can I no longer afford to retain the standard of living I have become used to? Accordingly the management of expectations should feature as a priority for all political parties.
The political parties too will have to come to terms with this new reality. Citizens will no longer label themselves, or be seen to be either Nationalists or Labourities but different colour schemes are fast surfacing. There exists a pale blue as well as a blue Nationalist, a moderate Labour supporter and a hard core one. The tendency of a pale blue person is not to accept blindly everything being said by his party. In like manner the pink as opposed to the red labour person is fast developing a mind of his own and is thinking independently of his Party. These developments in time will result in the existence of different currents and shades of opinion within the Parties themselves. The Parties will have to become even more tolerant internally. These developments will spell the death knell of the centralisation and control of power inside Parties where real and effective control still remains the privilege of the few - some of whom are often not even elected officials.
This school of thought will lead to people expecting more action and less rhetoric from the political class.
More delivery of the goods rather than pious hopes. The era of visible deliverables is fast taking over. Government’s popularity and very survival will depend on whether citizens experience retention of, if not an increase in, their living standards. This remains an issue for people even when the financial situation is poor. They fail to accept they should be the victims of bad management decisions. They simply expect value for money and their taxes to be used wisely and fugally in the general interests of the country. They see politicians simply as the custodians of the public finances.
There is a growing positive shift towards issue politics where issues, and not belonging to a particular tribe, will start dictating people’s electoral choices. This requires a cultural change by the party strategists and leaders. Issue politics means the death of tribal politics.
The placing of the environment, divorce, the reform of the rent laws and the pensions, the rights of single parents, gays and other quality life issues will become the burning issues. The political class will have to put them on their agenda too as they are simply the reflection of peoples concerns. The era of putting the uncomfortable issues under the carpet is over. They must be discussed and parties must present their policies and put them up for public scrutiny. Remaining silent and failing to take a stance on a controversial issue will be considered as cowardly and lacking in character.
The institutions - distinct from the political parties - will have to undergo change. The Church must become more tolerant, the employers more humane and the unions more realistic.
With the passage of time we will see the strengthening of civil society with the institutions playing a bigger role, and getting more involved. Government will be forced to realise that without the participation of civil society the financial situation will not turn round. Civil society will become a key player, no longer happy to be used in a photo opportunity prior to a crucial election, but expecting its seat, by right, close to the seat of power.
The biggest changes however will in time be the creation of a truly independent media. It is now inevitable. A media where real value is given to the term pluralism to mean opening up the airwaves to all and not just to the institutions.
In our country pluralism has taken on the restricted meaning of giving a voice to who already has a voice. In the case of broadcasting, pluralism in our country has just meant making the strong stronger - in no way has it given a voice to the voiceless. Worse still, the dominance of the political media attracting, together with PBS, the lion’s share of the advertising simply means that the chances of the privately owned media surviving are extremely remote. Ironically pluralism may bring about the death of private broadcasting media.
Europe is all about transparency, openness and accountability. These are the values the majority all voted for. Values which, once entrenched in our own system, will belatedly place Malta too in the post French revolution league where there is a clear distinction between Church and State where all issues are up for discussion in a serene and civil manner.
It’s best that the political class wakes up quickly to this new reality. The times they are a changing. It is a new ball game.
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