The two main political parties are once again in conflict over the way the electoral districts should be drawn up.

It is clear that we are not learning from the mistakes committed in the past. We all remember what happened in 1981, when the party that was elected to government was the one that got the minority of votes. In 1996, in spite of an 8,000 majority, Labour got only one extra seat in Parliament and this proved to be its downfall two years later.

The political parties seem to seek their own partisan interests, rather than the national interest and it is rather unfortunate that this problem seems to crop up each time a general election is looming.

Maybe the two sides could come to terms by deciding that whichever party gets a majority of votes should have at least a three-seat majority in Parliament. In this way, there would be better stability and fewer risks of a crisis.

But it is highly unlikely that the two sides will agree on this, which means that Malta will stagger along with the risk of having a very precarious parliamentary situation. Can the country afford it? Will there be progress?

I doubt it.

M. Camilleri

Mosta