We read daily that the two main parties are busy re-organising themselves. Both accuse each other – in Malta the verb is always to accuse – that the changes are due more to internal strains and stresses than any real need. Whatever the reason, the question to ask is: do people really care whether a party has a general secretary or not, whether it creates certain posts or not, whether divergent views are tolerated internally or looked upon as betrayals?

They should, for parties have an important role to play in democratic politics. One of the major good works of political parties occurs when they engage citizens in the political process. Naturally, their efforts carry an explicit partisan message, but in the free market of electoral competition, such self-interest is a virtue because it serves to educate and inform the electorate in a politically meaningful manner.

But internal battles of consolidation are a far cry from engaging citizens in the political process. Will PN voters be put off by the disappearance of John Dalli and Louis Galea from the scene in strange circumstances? Hardly! Will PN voters be put off when they see Lawrence Gonzi robustly consolidating his position? I don’t believe so. The same applies to the LP, which has an equally strong tradition of assertive leadership. Joseph Muscat is, at present, facing the same kind of accusations that had been levelled at Alfred Sant. The two parties are a typical case of the pot calling the kettle black. Nothing much really seems to change in Malta.

Life outside party HQs.

But the reality is that the average citizen neither cares for, nor understands, these manoeuvres. His main concern is whether he will be able to cope with the tsunami rise in the cost of living, with the ever-increasing tax-burden, with the strongly perceived corruption that seemingly reigns unchecked, with the spread of nepotism, with the gulf between the haves and the have-nots increasing. Between the daily reality that faces the ordinary citizen and the juggling for positions inside the palaces of the PNLP, there is a chasm of awesome proportions.

Change the system not the

parties

What our politically paralysed islands need is not the blare of trumpets that herald the start of the political blood sports, but a change in the electoral system that will make the citizen really believe that his voice is heeded once every five years or so. What the PNPL should be discussing (but won’t because it would mean a voluntary shedding of power) is transparency and accountability in

governance, the granting of tenders, the appointments to the innumerable quangos screening the ministers from public gaze, and how to check a construction industry that is spoiling our country even while it allegedly channels formidable funds into unseen hands.

What the PNPL should be discussing is whether we can afford to have an ever-increasing number of MPs and that at a time when our Parliament is daily becoming more of a management team charged with the duty of applying the laws that come from the power centres of the EU. They should be examining ways and means of making the Presidency less of a gilded sinecure and more of an institution that protects the citizen from the long reach of the executive arm of government. What all the backbenchers of both parties should be studying is how to change parliament from a rubber stamp and make it really a chamber where legislation is reasonably, honestly and openly discussed and where their own voice, the voice of the citizen, counts. Parliamentary immunity was not intended to allow MPs to exchange gratuitous insults or make false accusations without fear of prosecution, but to protect them when they expose dangerous truths to protect the citizens they represent.

I don’t know the real reason why Messers Dalli and Galea have left for pastures new, but it is becoming more and more apparent that power and lucre lie not in Malta but in Brussels and Strasbourg, where our representatives have to take on the hundreds of MEPs from the present 27 member states and defend the interests of this tiny piece of rock off the coast of Europe. The fact that they are not constantly under scrutiny by both the public and the press over here must also provide a great incentive.

The Verona Syndrome

In the UK, a special enquiry is investigating how Tony Blair led his party, Parliament and the country into the Iraq War. It may prove to be yet another case of government misleading public opinion and looking upon Parliament merely as a party rubber stamp. We all know the consequences of that action; thousands of Iraqis and allied soldiers have died and are still dying in Iraq. I take it to be a matter of principle that any party reform that takes place locally would only be valid if it really engages with the citizen, his wants and aspirations. MPs must never forget that they are there to promote the public weal. Otherwise party reform would be pointless and – worse – would take us back to the glory days of the Montagues and Capulets:

“Two households, both alike in dignity

“In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

“From ancient grudge break to new mutiny

“Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.”