Name-calling is stoking a new conflict in our country amid an already politically divisive electorate. Denigrating and belittling attributes dumped on substantial swathes of the Maltese electorate by leading Labour politicians managed to provoke a discernible reactionary outrage.
Back in 2021, we had former Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis calling PL supporters stupid (Ġaħan) in a text message to murder suspect Yorgen Fenech, as revealed by local media. In one of the WhatsApp chats, dated April 2019, Zammit Lewis described some of his colleagues as kids and posers with zero political competence. "That is what the stupid (Ġaħan) Labour voter wants-someone to serve them," he further texted.
Fast forward to last year, and we had Labour Party Deputy Leader Dr. Alex Agius Saliba stating on social media that whoever voted for the PN MEP candidates during the last European Parliament elections, or whoever abstained from voting at all, was 'ċass', in other words, abject.
Mind you, lest we forget, we also had a former PN sympathiser publicly insinuating that, since a large part of the electorate was, according to him, brought up with a poor education system, it would have no qualms voting for the corrupt, that is to say, Labour politicians.
I am not sure if all this is even supposed to be funny. But then again, I also don't understand why the entire vilification propaganda is supposed to be persuasive. What puzzles me most about all this is who its intended audience is and why they would be convinced by such a bizarre exercise.
This kind of treatment is unbelievable in the way that only political propaganda can be. This anything-goes, ends-justify-the-means philosophy is embarrassing. It demeans the electorate, and we should demand a higher standard from those who want to lead us.
Labelling part of the electorate with such disrespectful terms is a direct and unacceptable affront to the democratic process of voting and elections. Our politicians should keep in mind and beware of the electorate's general attitude towards disrespect in politics.
Insulting the electorate and accusing it of spiritual weakness and sinfulness are not the ways to get yourself noticed. Rather, you get noticed for the wrong reasons. Such attitudes can never constitute a fair game in politics.
If politicians want more trust from voters, they need to start behaving with civility and respect.
In this country, people are, for the most part, relatively well-educated, intelligent and discerning. In theory, that should encourage an interested and alert citizenry. The communications revolution empowers the electorate, or should. So much more information is available and instantly attainable than only a generation or two ago, including tools for monitoring events and debates and thus improving interaction and accountability. Today's plethora of opinion polls ought to be positive for the process, providing constant feedback to decision-makers about what people think and want and channels for voters to express their opinions.
Within the Maltese electorate, there is a growing belief that government is increasingly being conducted for the interests of the rulers rather than the ruled. This can be gathered from certain survey results and social media sentiments that have been regularly posted over the last few years.
The matter of "respect" remains core. The electorate should remain free to act and decide, and its ultimate decision must always be respected by all and sundry, whether one votes for the PN, for Labour, for some other party or independent candidate, or not at all. Every decision behind every single vote thrown or foregone carries a particular message, and it is up to our politicians to try and decipher such a message. But they must never renege on that respect that is due to the electorate by right.
Perhaps such adjectives as 'ġaħan' and 'ċassi' publicly stated by leading politicians are only the tip of the iceberg that is slowly chipping away at the reciprocal respect principle between the electorate, the elected and the non-elected.
So we have to begin with the challenge of politicians winning respect and go to a very basic level.
Politicians can and do behave badly on occasion, and, thanks especially to the all-pervasive media and that decision years ago to allow the televising of parliament, ordinary people, the electorate, see and hear this, and they hate it.
Sadly, at a time when trust is so low and contempt so high, it appears certain politicians don't even try to get better. They seem not to understand that trust is what we, the electorate, give them when they earn it, not what they get because they are where they happen to be, or not get because that is what they expected as of right.
Politicians' reputations would also be enhanced if there were a better balance between partisanship and bipartisanship. Voters would like to see some acknowledgement from time to time that the other side has had a good idea and more cooperation on worthy projects. This would not at all diminish robust partisanship on core differences and would improve the chances of achieving desirable reforms. Politicians could alter the tone and mind their language.
Much talked about is the decline in the share of votes that Malta's major parties get. This fall in the vote for the major parties also reflects the detribalisation of politics and social mobility. People don't inherit their vote from their parents as so many once did, mainly because, indeed, they have learnt to discern and to decide in a formed and informed manner.
I guess that the 'ġaħans', 'ċassi' and the 'poorly educated' electorate have today graduated from the university of life to grasp that their vote is precious, almost sacred, and is the most powerful nonviolent tool they have in a democracy.
Dr. Mark Said