Let us forget the quality of the arguments put forward by students during the MCAST debate this week and let us just focus on the general behaviour of the crowd.

It was actually hard to resist using the headline ‘shame on you’, but we do not, just because it would play into the hands of the manipulators – and, rather preachy. But really, the crowd of students ought to be disappointed in themselves.

Many might think that we will bring up the issue of their arguments being those of self interest. Others have called them ungrateful. We will shy away from all that. Everyone was 16 once, and most 16 year olds do think, self preservation and what’s in it for me.

We leave those follies of youth to be what they are, just a part of growing up… exploring finding one’s voice, trying to build an argument – and then put it to a seasoned politician. Some came of well, others did not. But we will not fault anyone for trying.

What we will fault people on is the partisan shouting, chanting and screaming. It was absolutely atrocious. We keep hearing about the need for unity, yet all we see is more and more divisiveness in the campaign. Both parties are saying that Malta is one nation, one people, a family. Yet when it comes to cutting into the issue, we see that this is, a very divisive campaign.

And that brings us to what happened at MCAST, all we saw was people chanting and counter chanting divisive songs in an aggressive manner. We also saw the students boo and chant at the leaders without even having any real reason too… both sides of them. It was poor. Rather than listen, evaluate and create a forma mentis for themselves, they preferred to descend into mob mentality and just heckle and boo… Poor form, very poor form.

We wonder how former Prime Minister and President Eddie Fenech Adami looks at the situation today. Following the PN’s 1987 victory, he embarked on his project of reconciliation. Some will argue that ‘Eddie’ was never fully conciliatory – he was after all, the epitome of what the PN stood for and could never, on a personal level, bond with anything from the left.

But he did do a lot to mend the fractures that ravaged this country following the dark years of the 1980s. Malta has moved on a lot since then, political belief was no longer a danger to express or exercise. But now, it is on the increase again. Granted, it is different. It is not so much an expression of political ideal, but more a social belief. The worrying thing is the aggression. We need to tone it down. We need to realise that there is no need for this divisive and rabid way of doing things. The thing is, we often blame the parties for fostering the divide. But in reality it is our own collective fault. Us as a people. We have got to a point where PL supporters are using what is supposed to be a unifying chant – Taghna lkoll – as a tool to exclude others in an aggressive way  (if you’re not with us you’re against us). In turn, PN supporters are just being fiercely unbending in their mantra – Nazzjonalisti, Nazzjonalisti.. etc.. etc… when they chant. The one thing that has become clear is that they are not chanting for their leaders, they are chanting and chest beating about their own social and political allegiance in the face of a crowd of a different belief. We truly are a primal people.