Today, hopefully, we proudly celebrate the 36th anniversary of when our nation became a Republic. Today is Republic Day.

All Maltese should be proud of this since much bigger nations still today do not have a fellow citizen as their head of state. However some reflections are duty bound to be made. How mature is our Republic? What kind of debate do we have in our island state? What are our values today? And what do we wish for tomorrow?

First and foremost I believe that we Maltese should be proud of what we are and what we managed to achieve throughout our long history. When one looks back even at our recent political history, and by recent I go back even by hundred years, we should be grateful that we had leaders with a vision and it is thanks to them that today we are what we are. Along the years we had political leaders who led this country even in very difficult times when we were still a colony but always believed that we Maltese can do much better and that we are capable to become a nation and decide on our own destiny. So yes let us all celebrate what we Maltese achieved along the years. But we cannot stop here. We need to move forward and we need to shape the future of our nation for the benefit of the present and the next generations.

Personally I think that in certain aspects we still need to mature and have more respect for each other’s opinions. We went a long way but what was achieved is still not enough. Maybe because we are hot blooded and when we argue we argue passionately but in my humble opinion there is room for improvement. And even our debates, how mature are these? Do we really think that since we have television programmes such as Xarabank or Affari Taghna we have a true debate going on in our country? In particular, I do not believe that the first programme offers an opportunity for a serious debate to be engaged in. Of course this is my opinion and I have my reasons for that.

But going back to my main point, some debates start because something serious happens but after a while we come to no particular conclusion. For example when a fireworks factory explodes and people are killed we spend some time discussing but then after a while we forget about it. The same happens after a traffic accident but then again back to square one. Even at the political level I do not think that we really debate the most important issues. One clear example which comes to mind is the European Union. We spent months and years debating whether we should join or not the EU but once in, it seems that there is nothing more to discuss and debate. We adopted the Euro as our currency but there was no real debate whether we should join immediately or at a later stage. Even the future of the European Union and the current situation in most of the other 26 member states is not debated thoroughly. We never discuss these issues and I add that at times not even in Parliament. Since Malta’s accession, EU affairs are no longer part of our foreign affairs but an integral part of our internal affairs. And as such we need to have an ongoing debate of what kind of Union we want in the future.

From time to time we have ministerial statements in Parliament especially after a Council Meeting or a Head of States Meeting of the EU. It is a good thing to do but debate is limited since according to the Standing Orders, Members have to limit themselves to questions and not to statements. The need of a deep debate is always felt but nothing is done to pursue such a debate. The Parliamentary institution needs to have a free debate on issues that concern us Maltese and our future, not only on legislation which is presented by the executive.

Then there is another kind of debate that crops up from time to time. Civil society brings up issues that might not be of interest to the majority but to particular groups or lobbies. Of course these are equally important and must be debated. Issues such as hunting, minority rights and the never ending divorce issue come to mind. However, when these issues and others make it to the national agenda there is no place where these can be debated in a constructive manner. It is high time that we create a serious forum where debate can be mature and intelligent. Who knows, maybe the Parliamentary institution can provide this forum or the MCESD can be this kind of forum. Obviously, when doing so the general public has to be invited to voice its opinion.

So yes today we celebrate what all of us managed to achieve, however, we need to look ahead to have a brighter future where all Maltese can feel at home in their own country.

Labour main spokesperson

for industry and foreign investment Email: [email protected]