Political tribalism has set this country back, and it’s time to completely shake it off, PN MP and Spokesperson for Political Renewal, Research and Innovation Claudio Grech told The Malta Independent on Sunday.
Recently, the PN announced a new set of proposals revolving around Grech’s portfolio, with issues ranging from the digitalisation of courts to immigration. The Malta Independent on Sunday sat down with Grech in order to get a more detailed insight into the new proposals announced by the PN.
The ‘us versus them mentality’ is something which has crippled the country for a number of years now and has stifled certain progress and nurtured a binary divide between Maltese citizens. “The way in which politics is done in this country, traditionally, deem what one party does as always good and what the other party does as always bad,” Grech said.
“This is the fruit of a two-main party system that has, in part worked for this country, helping it make great advances since its adolescence in terms of independence,” he said.
“However, on the other side, when you come to discuss what we call politics of policy, not partisan politics, unfortunately, the nature of the discourse ends up evolving on arguments of what is black and what is white, red and blue.”
Grech said that this removes the most important element in politics, “which is evidence.”
“This is when you build your politics not on what I think, or you think, or what I want or what you want, but on evidence. This means that you build politics on what is factual, that which is researched, and that which is sustained by the research that you have ongoing,” he remarked.
Grech recognised that “the blame rests on the PN as well” apart from the PL, as the party has been a main protagonist since Independence.
Proposals and governance
Grech said that instead of waiting for an electoral campaign to discuss proposals, the PN opted to go ahead and start presenting some of them.
“It wasn’t an easy discussion, and you would have some who are still stuck in the mentality or culture of tribal politics, that tell you that as an Opposition you should not put forward proposals before the electoral campaign because there can be the case where the Government steals your ideas and makes them its own,” Grech said.
The MP also said that the PN is pushing a lot for new methods on good governance. “We only seem to speak about good governance when it comes to corruption, but governance is also the way you lead the process of governance,” he said. In fact, the PN will look to involve more people not only in consultation but in decisions as well.
“This is power sharing, where you don’t have the system that we have today where a Government is elected every five years and no one else would have any form of involvement in governance. This is the difference between only consulting and listening, and including the persons, civil society, and whoever is directly interested or affected by these decisions as participants in these decisions themselves.”
Courts
Given the length of time certain court cases take, which has been an issue for many administrations, both PL and PN, Grech was also asked about how he would like to see the justice system improved. “I think that a lot of measures have been implemented, even by this administration, that one needs to recognise. But I believe that the future of the courts in terms of efficiency needs to be based on two elements.”
“Firstly, more resources should be allocated. This is not only about judges and magistrates, but also those who work around them. Some people might be critical of judges, but in reality, when one sees the workload that they have and the burden they need to carry, you see that most of them manage to perform miracles.”
Secondly, the digitalisation of the courts should also be implemented.” The digitalisation of the justice department can give a helping hand in the processing of bureaucratic and administrative aspects,” he said.
This would make court services available 24/7, and not only during working hours.
“We have managed to implement these digital services in many sectors. When it comes to the justice departments and the courts, they have started to be introduced, but I believe that a big push needs to take place since we know that a lot more change can happen,” he said.
Academia
Grech pointed out that he has been pushing for academics to be included more in the legislative process. “In our country, we are lucky to have a large body of knowledge and research that unfortunately is rarely used in legislative processes,” he said.
Grech took note of the volume of research that students undertake for their postgraduate dissertations, often on specific themes that would be topical, sometimes even discussed at political level and even legislative.
“We have to involve these people. Just because they might not be interested in taking an active role in politics does not mean that they do not have anything to contribute. Actually, I would go as far as to say that they have more things to contribute than others,” Grech observed.
The MP also said that the PN will encourage student start-ups. “I meet a lot of young adults with a lot of ground-breaking ideas, but because of the system, finances, and loans, they end up not pursuing them because industries would swallow them up and their ideas would remain shelved.”
The PN will also focus on vocational studies, Grech said, as there are some people who have talents in this field which need to be nurtured. He said that MCAST should not simply be a replica of the University of Malta but should focus more on these people. This requires a shift of mentality, “that you focus on the talent of the person,” Grech said.
Immigration
On the hotly debated topic of immigration, the PN had said that it will not tolerate racism but at the same time it will point out that other countries have to respect the size of Malta. Asked how this balance is going to be struck, Grech said: “Life doesn’t have any asking colour or race. Where life comes in, we still believe that where there is life at risk, it needs to be saved.”
These people would be facing difficult circumstances, Grech remarked, and populism and racism have no part to play in the PN.
On the other hand, Grech noted that a small country like Malta has to see other countries share the burden, based on demographics and on evidence.
Proposal costs
An internal process is ongoing regarding the costings of the proposals, Grech remarked, where “a number of professional auditors” accepted to contribute.
This will see how much these measures cost, and also the value of what the state is gaining back in terms of quality of life, the latter of which considers social value, he said.
This document will be published and will also see how the country can remove certain extra expenses which are there today, as the Government has a lot of discretionary expenditure which can be reduced, Grech remarked.
“This is expenditure without need and utility that the Government spends in a constant and consistent way. So, you have what you’re investing, what you’re saving from extra costs and the benefits of these measures,” he said.
The sectors the PN is going to focus on will also look to mitigate the environmental impact whilst giving high value back to the people, he said.
The PN also helped to diversify working sectors, like gaming and pharmaceuticals, yet the Government “was not capable of creating one sector apart from the passport one which created the problems concerning the reputation of our country,” he claimed.
PN renewal
Asked whether he thinks that enough new faces have come into the party, given that many people claim that there are too many familiar faces representing the PN, Grech said that he still believes that more new faces are needed.
“Regeneration in politics should take place in three ways: the party structures, in politics, a topic I am responsible for, and the regeneration of people,” he said.
“New talent doesn’t necessarily mean that they are teenagers and young adults. I believe that young adults need to be on the frontline of our politics, but this does not mean that those who have been here for 20 to 25 years can’t contribute. But what is factual is that the PN needs to lure more new talent.”
“This could be a person who has spent their career in their own field, and who has never been involved in politics, but decides to now join. It could also be an activist in an NGO. This is why we want to remove political tribalism, as it makes people shun politics. They wouldn’t want to enter into an environment of ‘our actions are all good, and the other party’s actions are all bad’,” Grech said.
Save A Life Foundation
Grech was asked what motivated him to donate his parliamentary salary to the Save A Life Foundation, which he and his wife set up. “I come from a district that has a number of problems and social challenges which accumulated over time. These have continued to persist and increased,” he said.
“I felt that I had an opportunity to use what I have obtained from politics to give back to the community. These would include local NGOs which focus on children and teenagers so that with the little that we have we try to help children and teenagers, notably with drug problems,” he said.
Grech said that the moments he remembers most in his political life are when he attends funerals of young people – seeing parents losing their children due to drugs.
“Those moments push me to continue organising these initiatives. They would be initiatives that don’t go against something or prejudge people but invest in prevention.”