In one of the plotlines in the American TV series Band of Brothers, there is the conflict between Major Winters and Captain Sobel. There is one remarkable scene where the Captain walks past the Major without saluting him. He is reprimanded and is reminded that a soldier salutes the rank, not the man that holds the rank. The same is true for all elected offices of state.

The Office of the Prime Minister is, above all, a symbol of the power of the Maltese state and nation. We must therefore always show respect for the Office of the Prime Minister even when we don’t necessarily like or respect the person that at any given time holds that office.

I have disagreed with the policies of many of our former Prime Ministers yet I still hold them in high esteem. Disagreement on political and social matters does not lead to disrespect. In fact, disagreement is part of the part and parcel of the democratic process.

The fundamental problem with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is therefore not his right to have different policies, but that he continues to wield power in way that is lacking in respect towards his own office: lacking in respect for the limits of what can and should be legislated and his use of the office to undermine the traditional morals and ethical underpinnings of Maltese society.

This lack of respect for the Office of the Prime Minister by the current Prime Minister was clearly demonstrated during the Pride Parade of two weeks ago.

It was to be expected that Prime Minister Muscat, the Opposition Leader and other politicians would use the Pride Parade itself as a media opportunity. It is in order, and it is their right, to use the event to highlight their policies on rights for gays and other sexual minorities. Their attendance at the event, their speeches and statements are therefore not in dispute at all.

What is legitimately questionable was the use of the official symbol of the Office of the Prime Minister, Castille, to promote the event. Castille, the office of all past and future Prime Ministers, should never be politicised. The Office represents all of us, all of the time and not just those that elected him or even a minor group of them. The symbol of our unity, the Maltese flag, is flown outside Castille to show that the Office represents all the Maltese people, regardless of their religious and political beliefs, regardless of their gender and sexual orientation, regardless of their age, race and other peripheral attributes.

For the Office of the Prime Minister to be used to knowingly replace the symbol of unity of the citizens of Malta with the symbol of one minor section of society at the national seat of power elevates that section of society – that minority group – above the other (minority/majority) groups creating a symbolic inequality in relation to the main symbol of power.

Raising the rainbow flag in front of Castille is a disgraceful breach of protocol that disrespects the Office as a national symbol of power because it politicises the symbol by calling in to question the equality of all Maltese.

Because of this national symbolism, it is unimaginable that the national flag in front of Castille would ever be replaced by the PL or PN flag – not even for a day. What happened is a politicisation of the Office because the Prime Minister will not do the same for all minorities that have an event. The different churches will not be honoured by having their symbols displayed during their religious festivals and neither will any other religion. The many hunters will not have their symbols elevated during the hunting season, nor will the football clubs have their flags raised when they win an important match.

Furthermore, although somewhat tangential to the point, most gays that I know personally do not wish to attend any Pride Parade. They have what they want: equality before the law and to be treated on a par with all other Maltese. They do not approve of their sexual orientation being turned into a political cause. And, in addition, they dislike the political lobbying by the MGRM: they specifically do not approve of gender indoctrination of our children in schools. The rainbow flag has come to be not so much the flag of the gay sexual minority but the flag of the MGRM.

And what could be symbolically worse than to have the symbol of a political lobby group (that many deem extreme and harmful to our society) flying at the seat of power in Malta?

Respect for the Office of the Prime Minister is part of the deference to the legitimate power imbued in that Office and a celebration of the peaceful transition of power. If I respect the Office when I did not vote for the holder, I can expect the same from others when the Office is held by someone for whom I did vote. And, although I fear how this particular Prime Minister is using his powers and although I will continue to work tirelessly to resist his policies, I will continue to respect – and to demand respect for — the Office of the Prime Minister. The current holder of the Office must start respecting the Office of the Prime Minister. It is time for the Prime Minister to salute the Office and not show such utter disrespect.