How many times has this phrase been uttered in Parliament by MP’s right before they turn any argument into a political football?

The phrase is as useful as telling someone not to get offended right before you offend them.

Politicians must realise that everything they do as legislators is political.

On Monday, Parliament debated (and ultimately voted against) a PN motion on a legal notice that allows music to be played in Valletta until 1am. At one point during the debate, Culture Minister Owen Bonnici said that the PN should not use this case as a political football.

We’re sorry, minister, but wasn’t it your government which all of a sudden made it possible to play music till the early hours of the day without any consultation with the residents?

The moment the minister responsible for the legal noticed signed off on it, the issue became political.

Pointing fingers at the opposite side and telling them to not turn an argument being discussed into a political football is simply a defence mechanism. The MPs are there to represent the people, so any issue which directly effects the people has to be discussed in the political arena, which is Parliament.

As is the norm with any legislative change the House discusses, arguments are made from both extremes, and this is what democracy is about. What do ministers expect? That the Opposition agrees with everything they say?

The foundation of democracy is discussion and evaluation, not pointing fingers and accusing whenever someone opposes an action made. It is as though some people never matured beyond the levels of primary school – and this goes for politicians from both sides of the House.

This issue did not start with the Valletta legal notice issue: a compilation video several hours long can be made from the amount of times the phrase was uttered, both in Parliament and in any speech in a political event.

The infuriating factor is that whenever someone in Parliament brings up an issue effecting a group of people, the opposite side must claim that the latter is turning the issue political, be it when talking about minority groups, a shortage of nurses, ODZ land, tax, salaries and so on. The list is literally endless.

It is as though that whenever a pressing issue is raised in Parliament, the defending side (most of the time the government) blurts out the phrase whenever it is their time to speak, as if it’s their only defence.

Have we become a country which does not consider certain factors in the decision-making process of things – where whenever a concern is raised we just say “let’s not turn this argument into a political football?”

In no way shape or form is this editorial insinuating that there weren’t good decisions, or that perfect decisions must be taken, but why can’t we recognise where mistakes have been made and amend?

Are our legislators too proud of themselves to realise that they made a mistake, or that some of their decisions will genuinely affect people in a negative way?

We all make mistakes and what makes us human is the ability to listen to the people indirectly effected and amend accordingly.