In time, we will learn to appreciate the gargantuan step Malta made in acquiring European membership, and now that of becoming a fully-fledged member with the European currency as our own.
However, it is almost certain the accolades won’t be flowing just in the direction of the politicians who achieved integration. Malta is only now starting to enjoy the fruits of European membership, but civil society has stepped up its gear higher than that of the island’s largely conservative and over-cautious political class. It expects more. It expects, in generic terms, a ‘change in mentality’. Slowly but surely, civil society, aided by the more radical, albeit smaller political forces of this country, will be inspired to play a much greater role in the way this country is led.
But a change in mentality alone sounds like an ephemeral quality. The Maltese experience in the last three years of European membership was that it demands a stronger implementation of EU rules, especially when it comes to the environment; and it demands enjoying the civil liberties enjoyed by many other Europeans in their countries, civil liberties which essentially are there to render people happier and freer. This newspaper has repeated this call endlessly: the people are thirsty for healthy debate and for radical changes that can render them as European as they ever aspired to be, enjoying a clean and aesthetically pleasing country, enjoying the benefits of full democracy through its multi-party electoral system, clear transparency in the way parties are financed, and an end to the toying about with secularism through confessional politics.
With this in mind, the people look over to its political class and expect them to do more.
But the impending election will, once again, be based on issues directly corresponding to our material wellbeing. The choice is between a bland set of politicians, men and women who find themselves content to settle for a moderate, non-confrontational style of politics that leaves many thirsting for substance, rather than form. For years, we believed America was a democracy which lacked the exuberance with which the Maltese participate in its politics. The comparison sounds irrelevant given the extreme differences between the two nations. And yet America could well be on its way to electing its first black or woman president. Our politicians on the other hand seem to come from the same stables of party nurseries, where the young and politically keen are nurtured to become monotonous vote-winning rhetoricians. It seems the change Malta wants to see is yet to come.
And yet, Malta is becoming part of one of the most powerful geo-political blocs of the century. With its final integration into the eurozone, it is now using the currency that is actually rivalling the American dollar; and that is creating so many advantages to consumers and businesses by comparing prices across the continent. Adding Malta’s and Cyprus’s 1.2 million people to the 320 million Europeans using the single currency, will enable the eurozone to grow larger and stronger. It’s an exciting new chapter for our country, and for Europe too.
There is no doubt that European influence has won the day for us. Whatever Malta’s benefits from membership and the single currency, it will the EU’s power to inspire peaceful development and economic co-operation across this continent that will make us a more relevant player in the world.
But this great change requires more. It is a culture change that the people expect from the political class, especially the aspiring politicians who are seeking their first seats in parliament. By seeking the centrist ground in politics, we are only boiling down politics to a battle of style and form, concentrated purely on issues which generate the most popular appeal. It is time for our political class to drum up the necessary courage and face up to the duty it has in making Malta’s European membership an even more concrete reality – not just in terms of pecuniary gain; but in the serenity that we can enjoy a more freer, liberal, tolerant and secular society.