Last Thursday the Faculty for Social Wellbeing spearheaded an Open Dialogue.  The objective of such a forum was to offer a space ‘not controlled’ by a panel or keynote speeches.  The theme that we focused on was the current political situation in Malta and how we found ourselves to be at a delicate juncture. 

This event included contributions by several community leaders, academics, activists, social operators, research support officers, broadcasters, politicians, students and the public.  The agenda we had in front of us was how can we respond to what is happening in our society. 

The following is a summary (non-verbatim) of a selection of what the speakers said.    

Prof. Andrew Azzopardi, the Dean of the Faculty for Social Wellbeing said that the aim of the forum was to have an Open Dialogue, that could help us untangle the political mess that we have got ourselves into. 

Josef Vella, CEO of UHM – Voice of the Workers, said that the current crisis is not of the peoples’ making and shouldn’t be shouldered by the citizens.  The responsibility lies with the Government.

Josef Bugeja, Secretary General, GWU, said that we are currently in a crisis, but we need to find the time to discuss long term plans to get us out of this debacle that had a major impact on our work force.

Dr George Vital Zammit, academic, said that this is a crisis of values. He reminded us that this was the murder of someone (Daphne Caruana Galizia) who was revealing corruption through her writings.  Vital Zammit said that the whole situation has left us with a loss of trust in our institutions.  He referred to the situation we are in as ‘the great deception’.  He said that what we need is not a change in Government but a change in governance. 

Ina Cutajar, an educator, claimed that MaltaToday showed through its survey that the majority of people critical of the current situation were those with tertiary education. Hence, the majority of people still do not get what is going wrong.  She claimed that we have failed to educate our people to think critically and emphasized on the need for a national campaign that will explain democracy, rights and the responsibilities of politicians.  She said that it is not only the Government but also the Opposition that has failed us. 

Prof. Arnold Cassola, an academic, politician and activist, said that there is a collapse in the ethical behavior of politicians. The only value we are giving to life is money, he said.  He claimed that not one member from the Parliamentary group deserved to be Prime Minister.  He also mentioned that there are over 300 academics who signed a petition, indeed a positive indicator according to him.  He believes that ASAP we need to kick-start the Constitutional reform.

Dr Francois Mifsud, an academic, said that Malta has been turned into a Machiavellian state.   He said that it is obscene that Melvin Theuma was given a thank you token in the form of a ghost job which he said, ‘we’ all paid for, part of the conspiracy that surrounds the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. He also appealed for UHM and GWU to take a stronger position.  He claimed that this is a patriarchal state where the Leader is all.

Dr Marie Briguglio, an academic, said that there’s a whole lot underneath the PM’s resignation. She said that what we are responsible for is the error of omission, of failing to report illegalities, those small sins that grow to become normality.  She claimed that we need to talk politics and there is a need for a national campaign about politics, critical thinking and ethics.

Dr Michelle Attard Tonna, an academic, said that for those who did not see this coming, they are either stupid or naïve.  She also reiterated that people from small parties were criticizing this relationship between business and politics for a long time.  She also expressed concern that we are sending the wrong messages to our children.

Pia Zammit, an educator and activist with Occupy Justice said that we need long-term solutions and an improvement in our critical mass.  She claimed that we need to empower students with the right to question and not simply stuff children with a curriculum. 

Dr Anne Marie Callus, an academic, said that this is a crisis situation.  The Opposition has been speaking about these issues for a long time but not many were listening. She also said that the Opposition had been speaking since the Panama papers were published. She said that we need resignations immediately because the situation is shocking to the core. She found it insulting to see the photo of the PL MPs cocking-a-snook whilst people were protesting outside Parliament.  It felt, she said, that this Country has no hope.  She claimed that before we think about rebuilding, what we need is to ‘unbuild’. 

Quinton Scerri, a broadcaster, said that 170,000 people who voted Labour, feel betrayed.  He reiterated that we cannot sort this only through anger.  He criticized the role of the media in this issue.

Hon. Claudette Buttigieg MP, said that as politicians they have let people down.  However, it is also true that they spent overnight at Parliament to review the VGH deal. She felt that at times everyone was making a fool of them and now people realized that they were saying the truth.

Louiselle Vassallo, an academic and activist with Occupy Justice, said that this is a disastrous juncture we are in.  The anger she said is justified and it is unfair to direct criticism to the protestors. She said that we should be talking about the crooks.

Prof. Gorg Mallia, an academic, said that ‘we’ have every right to be angry. He said that there is a problem of Governance but also of government and people need to scream and shout.

Hon. Godfrey Farrugia MP, said that in 2014 he resigned because of lack of accountability and in 2017 he resigned from Party Whip because of a number of other issues he explained in a public letter.  He criticized the current electoral system.

Prof. Kenneth Wayne, an academic, said that education doesn’t come from schools but also from the media.  He said that it was a mistake when political parties started having their own media.  He also criticized the BA as being ineffective.  He also said that all this unanimous approval we see happening amongst politicians is made of totalitarianism.

Dr Kurt Borg, Research Support Assistant, said that the current political crisis ‘we’ are witnessing, in the midst of the assassination of a journalist, is the result of dishonest politics, whereby most politicians are economical with truth, engage in shady behaviour for personal or political gain, and in a dangerous relationship with rich capitalists soliciting favours. He reiterated that we need an improved political education and a society that should value free thinking, critical dissent and a strong civil society, to battle the culture of fear we live in and foster a healthier radical democracy with the people back at the heart of politics.

Prof. Vicky Ann Cremona, an academic and activist with Repubblika, asked what are the limits that ‘we’re’ going to allow our politicians to get away with?  She said that two people contesting leadership, instead of distancing themselves from the PM are on stage hugging.  She said that she feels cheated as a citizen. She also said that she is very angry and asks whether this corruption has an end to it.  She also promised that protests will not end just because the PM resigns. She reiterated that we are at a critical juncture.

Prof. Alexei Dingli, an academic, said that there is a complete collapse of the whole system and political parties need to re-invent themselves.  He said that we need to push for Constitutional reform where the PM has absolute power.

William Farrugia, student and President of the KSU, said that in politics everyone is polarized and that our educational system is in tatters.  He said that the resignation of the Prime Minister is not the solution to the problem. He said that the country needs to re-visit its priorities. He said that he is considering living abroad.

Rosemary Dorekeins, academic and journalist, said that certain media houses have a hostile attitude.  She claimed that today people don’t read but they just follow blindly.

Dr Charles Pace, an academic, said that in a neo-liberal mindset a country risks having rich people that dominate.  He also challenged the audience present to think on how are we going to stop the clandestine way of financing parties.

Didi Lowell, a student, said that the media has an important role in how the message is pushed forward.  She questioned whether Vote 16 has really given space for the students to be politically engaged. 

Martina Darmanin, a student, said that we have a Constitutional problem on our hands.  She also said that students just complain but don’t speak enough.  She also considered going abroad with all that is happening at the moment.  This student also said that the education system does not allow students to discuss politics. 

Dr Elena Tanti Burlo’, an academic, said that our education system drives most of our children out of the system.  From when children are so young there is reluctance for students to work together.  

Abner Barbara, a social operator, said that even though a person had to die we still have learned absolutely nothing. 

Stefan Caruana, educator and social operator, said that he cannot understand why the Unions are finding it so difficult to protest this time round when it isn’t the first time protests were organized in Valletta.  In the past, protests were held because of a wage increase which wasn’t acceptable to ‘you’ (Unions).  Caruana asked if these protests affected the business community in Valletta at the time?  He also asked whether the national strike held as a result of the VAT introduction, was a bad enough situation for the unions to practically stop all the business in Valletta?  Caruana said that this society has gone to the dogs.