The Maltese political system is built around clientelism – but it is not alone in this. During the discussions about constitutional reform – that were to be held? that will be held? – perhaps it would be a good idea to put on the agenda some reflection about this aspect, and how the electoral system does serve to boost it. At least that would be an item of discussion that would not have arisen from the interference coming from Europe in Malta’s internal affairs.
To get into Parliament, all MPs need to build their own personal promotional machine covering their constituency. If he/she gets elected, the MP must keep that machine running. If the MP becomes a minister, he/she would need to bring its members into some post or other as a person of trust or otherwise, in the ministry itself or in the organizations it monitors. When the MP gets assigned to another ministry, he/she will discover it is already crammed with the nominees of his/her predecessor. Somehow they will have to be replaced in order to provide backing to his/her own.
This carousel is harmful. It might be circumvented if Malta and Gozo become just one constituency and candidates who get the largest number of votes in the country as a whole get elected. That’s what is done in Israel, though they have party lists there. A problem would be that voting ballots would become extremely long. On the other hand, it should be easier to manage quota arrangements.
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ARE DEATHS GOING DOWN?
Some reports about the second wave of the corona virus pandemic in Europe seem to indicate that although the virus has remained as highly infectious as it was right from the start, perhaps even more, it is also becoming less destructive. Recoveries have increased in number and deaths declined, relatively.
It is doubtful whether one should find consolation in such assessments, especially as the ways by which the pandemic gets surveilled and treated are not like they were during the initial months. Monitoring and care have improved greatly. Moreover, those who were most vulnerable in the population, are now dead and their survivors find themselves less at the mercy of the disease.
All things considered, claims about a softening of outcomes amount to hardly more than speculation.
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THE PRINT MEDIA
One wonders whether sales of the print media have been negatively affected in the wake of the ongoing pandemic. Many print media users are at the higher age range. They were among those most encouraged not to leave home, still are.
Their other option was to stay with their chosen newspaper by consulting it in print format on the internet: one subscribes to the system and downloads the print version. Query: if subscribers to this increased in number, did they exceed the number of those who simply stopped buying the printed item? After all, it is wellknown that a substantial portion of the elderly are less than familiar with digital ways of doing things.
The migration of newsmedia towards digital technology looks like it has gathered enough momentum to have become unstoppable. It is difficult to predict where this development could take us. Elsewhere, the print media have successfully transformed themselves into a digital format – although it remains a moot point whether while doing so, they have retained their original character. Malta’s media are at present undergoing the same transformation. Where will it end?