In Malta and Gozo, over the years, there has been a tragic breakdown in trust between people and institutions. This lack of trust has made it difficult to assume positive intentions behind most of the political initiatives taken, whether by the Government or Opposition. It has also therefore made it more difficult to achieve cooperation and the most positive roads and possibilities are closed off to us until this crisis of trust is resolved.

There is a little online game I recommend that everybody tries, called the Evolution of Trust. It refers to the 1917 Christmas Truce during the First World War as its inspiration: when the soldiers met between the trenches to play football and treat one another as friends, before returning to conflict. Using game theory and referring to the Prisoner's Dilemma, we are taught that cooperation is more productive than any alternative.

The Prisoner's Dilemma itself is a game of sorts whereby two players are unable to communicate with each other and are told that if they rat on their partner, then they get less jail time. If they do not cheat on their partner, and their partner cheats on them, then the person who decided to keep quiet loses everything and the person who betrayed him goes free. In the event that they rat on each other, both suffer in prison, but if they both remain quiet, they serve the easiest sentence. In such a thought experiment, it turns out that people mostly betray one another, even though the most productive scenario is to trust each another and cooperate. I suggest everyone look ups up the Evolution of Trust and gives it a go: https://ncase.me/trust/

It has a lot to teach us about Malta. As political party allegiance is tribal in Malta, this lack of trust in our politicians has also equated to an inability to reach out across political divides on a social level. It is fair to say that Malta is a deeply divided country and it is in the interests of no-one for this state of affairs to continue, because by constantly undermining one another, we all lose. We must all learn to work together under the rule of law and we must therefore rebuild trust.

So, how did we get here, and is there any way out? I have come to accept that Malta is not like most other European democracies, in that we have all the trappings of Parliament and independent institutions, but the practice of them remains superficial, masking an all-powerful Executive. This institutional failure is as old as our Constitution, however, and the power of the Prime Minister parallels that of a British Governor. In such a situation, without effective checks and balances to guarantee trust, the system can only function through the goodwill of the Prime Minister.

The lack of trust in our country has led to a situation where people can no longer have faith in investigations, the Police or the media. Those supporting the government, of course, maintain faith in public institutions because they favour their faction. In a sense, the majority thrive and benefit to the direct detriment of the minority. This has led to a state of warfare between political factions and social groups. So long as this conflict endures, our progress will indeed be undermined.

Either Malta ensures independent institutions and checks and balances, or we mature within our current system and treat one another with more trust and confidence without needing these institutions to guarantee that we do not cheat one another. In turn, it is fundamental that this trust not be betrayed, and that those who violate it are punished. If impunity reins, and if corrupt businessmen call the shots, then the public interest is not the objective. Positive gestures must be rewarded, and cheats put in their place.

If we are able to rebuild both trust and goodwill, then we must finally implement the institutional reforms that our own academic experts have long advised. We must also punish those who abuse our trust, and justice must not only be done, but it must be seen to be done. Perhaps then we might finally live in a country that puts quality of life before the enrichment of a select few, who are above the law. Such a country would truly be the Malta we love.