Every once in a while a particular word which is associated with a particular incident finds its way into the local vocabulary. My friend, Parliamentary Secretary Frans Agius, can be credited with instilling the word “lapsus” into the Maltese lexicon for instance. A word which we had forgotten about but which was used frequently in the early 1980s is “gerrymandering”.

Unfortunately, it is being used again.

I started involving myself in politics just a few months before the 1981 elections. The Labour Party was steadily leading us up the path to totalitarianism and I felt duty-bound to do my small bit in the fight for democracy. Notwithstanding the fact that the Labourites had done their best to cling on to power by honing their penchant for clientelism into a fine art, they failed to get the support of the majority of the electorate.

They would still rule for the next five years and three months. The reason? The electoral commission of the day had shifted the electoral boundaries in such a way as to favour the MLP. Mathematics and gerrymandering had been used to thwart the will of the people. What followed was arguably the darkest period in recent Maltese history.

Gozo now has a voting population which exceeds the limit allowed by electoral law. Boundaries have been shifted in such a way as to favour the MLP once again. A part of Gozo has been joined to Malta, districts like my own have been splintered into unrecognisable fragments, and villages have been shifted like chessmen. In one word: gerrymandering.

It is shameful that Labour parliamentarians who are being told that they will have to abandon constituents they have been representing for years do not find it in themselves to do more than to simply grin and bear it. It is nothing short of amazing to see Gozitan Labour MPs merely shrugging their shoulders at this disgraceful state of affairs.

Local electoral laws need a thorough overhaul. This can only be done with the cooperation of the MLP as a two-thirds parliamentary majority is required. No one in his right mind wants this country to go back to the chaos and uncertainty of the 1980s. Yes, it can happen again if neither one of the two major parties exceeds the 50 per cent mark.

The situation is to be discussed in Parliament in the coming days. Malta has come a long way since those dark years when gerrymandering divided us into two tribes. Labour MPs are expected to put the national interest and the interests of their constituents before the narrow-minded partisan considerations their party officials are prioritising. They should find the courage to stand up and be counted at this crucial moment.

Our nation, our people, deserve no less.

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