The House Select Committee, currently discussing issues relating to democracy, has invited organizations and members of the public to attend a series of public hearings. This is a praiseworthy initiative and makes a welcome change from the culture of discussing Constitutional changes secretly and privately between the political parties represented in parliament, as if this were of concern to just two political parties. This change of approach can only strengthen our young democracy and make it better placed to face the economic social and political changes in a fast-changing global world. Hopefully it augurs an end to the system of partitokrazija and its replacement with a participatory democracy.
This newspaper has always advocated the need to update our Constitution in order to recognise social changes which have hit our shores. Inviting people to air their views and give their suggestions will allow the political class, so often accused of living in a cocoon, to become more aware of the concerns, feelings and changing cultures of the electorate. It is a bold initiative, in keeping with the European way of doing politics, to which we all aspire.
Essentially, we hope that these talks will help mature our political model, from system of a representative democracy to a more participatory democracy, in which people feel that their views actually matter, and that their sole role is not simply to cast their votes just once every five years. The changes should recognise the reality and strength of civil society: hitherto largely ignored, leaving a lack of trust in the relationship between politicians and the electorate.
A blueprint for a better Malta, enshrined also in the Constitution, would first recognise the separation between State and Church, allowing the church full independence and sovereignty in pastoral matters, while giving full and exclusive secular powers to the State. This recognition carries immediate implications and consequences for the introduction of divorce and co-habitation rights.
Many of the matters placed on the agenda of the House Committee are par for the course in all mature European democracies, where transparency, accountability, funding of political parties and conflict of interest issues are entrenched, not necessarily in their Constitutions, but certainly in their culture and mindset. A culture where wrongdoing is not ignored, where conflict of interest issues are addressed and where – most importantly – wrongdoers do not hide behind a legal veil but recognise that all actions carry political consequences and the term political correctness is a mantra and a standard breached at one’s peril. Not surprisingly, many issues raised by the media have been at best ignored, and at worst ridiculed by our political class, which for far too long has considered itself privileged and immune to criticism simply because of the office it holds, without giving consideration to the fact that it is the electorate which has given them its trust. Unlike the historical Stuarts, our politicians do not hold office “by Divine Right”. Consequently it is time to see legislation updated and made consonant with people’s expectations, among which are the following: that political parties fully declare their funding; that all representatives of the people make known their true assets; that conflict of interest issues are tackled in full transparency, in the full belief that sunshine is the best disinfectant.
There are welcoming signs – like the recent conservation order by Mepa – suggesting a belated realisation on the part of the authorities that people actually matter. Slowly, people power is beginning to surface. These little signs will hopefully lay the foundations for a culture which places nation before party, people before state and most especially the public interest before narrow individual concerns.
Will such a culture ever flourish in our country? It is a tall order but the opening up of the House Select Committee to the public can certainly plant the first seeds.
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