I am writing this article fresh from the 7th of September protest, organised by various NGOs, including the ever fearsome Moviment Grafitti. A great crowd of thousands rallied outside Parliament and together we roared, and as one we at last found – and gave a voice to – the downtrodden and neglected.

Whatever the beliefs of those of us who were present, we were all united by one thing: This broken system has disenfranchised us. We are living in an anarchy where money is the one true King. Our rights have been stripped at convenience.  The hidden hands of our Lords and Masters write our laws in order to work against us, but instead offer them loopholes. And yet, so confident are the law-makers of this land in their own supremacy, that they flaunt their own rules and policies and break them: too lazy or inconvenient, perhaps, to patiently weaken the legislation first as they do at other times. The law does not apply equally to all.

The vast majority of us do not have the money – or the friends in high places – to get special treatment. It is not, however, special treatment we want – what we want is for nobody to be above the law. We want the right to live in peace and in good health. We do not want to be second-class citizens in our own country any longer.

In speeches, the activists of this protest highlighted the real enemies of the people. It is not the politicians who have sold out, although they are damned for having done so. The politicians merely dance and sway to electoral tides and whims, pulled like puppets by an unseen force. And it is that unseen force which is the Enemy, blackmailing, bribing and dictating what our politicians should do.

That handful of contractors, developers and businessmen who were named in succession with passionate anger are those responsible for the wretched state of this country. They use their money to buy out the two major political parties, who hold out their begging bowls, ready to sacrifice our public land, our environment and our heritage, just to get an electoral edge.

The only way to save this country is for all the political parties to realise their common interest – and, therefore, their common enemy. Whether Red, Blue, Orange or Green, I guarantee you that very few of us are happy with the direction this country is taking. So let us set aside our tribal hatred and work together to rid ourselves of the scourge of these puppet masters who are playing us off against each other.

One way to do this is to address the Financing of Political Parties Act which is currently in limbo. Make it illegal for the developers and businessmen to donate money to political parties and place them under intense scrutiny. Replace those donations with a small tax that will go towards the limited and highly regulated state-funding of political parties. Then, all of a sudden, the people who are ruining Malta will lose all their political influence. A solution along these lines is desperately needed. Enough is enough!