Many believe that a politician’s main duty is to improve ordinary people’s lives. They rightly associate this abstract concept with tangible action to create opportunities for more work, better living conditions, and concrete policies to curb the excessive cost of living. However, there is more to politics than making people’s lives more comfortable.

The Prime Minister’s recent announcement on the setting up of a Parliamentary Select Committee to discuss the strengthening of democracy is a step in the right direction. A country that calibrates its compass of democracy is a country that will withstand the threats we might be confronted with because of economic or political crisis that may affect us from time to time.

The agenda set out for this Select Committee includes some very important issues which, if resolved, will make political life as well as the life of ordinary citizens that much easier. The Labour Party’s insistence on a well-regulated and transparent system regarding the financing of political parties is of paramount importance for the strengthening of our democracy.

Ordinary people need to believe that when political decisions are taken, they are taken in their best interest, and not in the interest of some faceless lobby that has political influence because of its financial clout. Political parties in a modern democracy need financial support to pass on their message to the public who ultimately have to choose between different alternatives put forward to them. But such financial support must flow in a transparent process that does not create a conflict of interest for our political leaders.

Another important issue is the reform of the electoral laws. Political democracy is based on the principle that a country should be governed by a party that has the support of the majority of the people voting in an election. It is therefore important that the free will of the people is not only respected, but that in the end it should be decisive in determining who should lead the country at a particular time.

There is no room for gerrymandering in a modern democracy and much less for corrupt practices aimed at influencing unjustly the will of the electorate. There are very blurred demarcation lines between legitimate executive actions taken by an outgoing administration to serve one or more citizens, and possible corrupt practice through the arbitrary use of administrative authority to influence the possible outcome of an impending electoral contest.

We therefore need clear rules agreed to by all political parties to ensure that parliamentary representation is as much as possible a fair representation of political support by the electorate. However, we also need equally clear rules of what an outgoing administration can do to ensure that administrative authority is not used to influence unjustly the will of the people.

There are other issues that need to be discussed, including a review of certain elements in our Constitution. The big challenge ahead of us is to take the long-term view to implement changes that will stand the test of time and serve our country in most, if not all, political circumstance that may arise. This is an exciting time which only happens occasionally, but which, if handled properly, will contribute to the strengthening of democracy to which we are all passionately committed.

The Labour Party negotiators, of which I am one, will enter into these discussions with a clear commitment to strengthen the democratic process in Malta. I have no doubt that our colleagues in the Nationalist Party have a similar commitment and that together we can calibrate the compass of democracy, which will show us the way forward for the next generation.

This is what our people expect of us, and this is what we should deliver.

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