Professor Mario Thomas Vassallo told The Malta Independent on Sunday that "there is political fatigue wherever you look in Malta and a great sense of collective fatalism is growing by the day".
Vassallo, and Professor Roderick Pace, were asked for their views on criticism levelled at the government that it is undermining democratic principles, including its decision to push through amendments related to magisterial inquiries and the Prime Minister's decision against the publication of ministers' declaration of assets.
Professor Pace is a Jean Monnet Professor from the University of Malta's Institute for European Studies. Professor Vassallo is an Associate Professor at the University of Malta and the head of the Department of Policy, Politics and Governance.
The growing lack of trust in politics and politicians was confirmed last Friday - after Vassallo and Pace had spoken to The Malta Independent on Sunday - in the 2025 State of the Nation survey, which found that public interest in politics has plummeted to its lowest point in five years. The number of people responding that politics means nothing to them has nearly tripled since 2021, shooting up from 12.9% to 33.5%.
Additionally, only three in every 10 respondents (30.8%) said that politics is important in their lives in this latest survey. In 2021, nearly one half of respondents believed this to be true (48.3%).
Vassallo made his "political fatigue" remark when asked for his take on the government's apparent strategy to not conduct public consultations when reforming aspects of the justice system, as was the case with the magisterial inquiry reform and with the constitutional amendments still being discussed in Bill 134.
He warned that while the government has implemented several "well-thought innovations within the judiciary system", thanks to recommendations lodged by the Council of Europe, "when people become alienated from politics, it is easier for the governing elites to master their own, self-appeasing agenda".
The government is trying to limit the damage by introducing new legislation by stealth, Vassallo stated.
On this, Pace believes that times of constitutional change "present a valuable opportunity to engage the public in meaningful dialogue and elevate the level of political discourse". As such, he referenced the previous attempts of President Emeriti George Abela and George Vella to promote this public discourse on constitutional change.
National framework
"While this approach may take more time, it fosters a deeper sense among citizens that the Constitution is a shared national framework - belonging to the people, not just the political parties," Pace observed.
Regarding democratic backsliding in Malta, Pace said that "there are troubling signs that certain democratic freedoms are being eroded - an indication of potential backsliding that, if not addressed, could lead to a serious societal crisis".
Vassallo defined democratic backsliding as "the gradual decline in the quality of democracy within a country" involving "the weakening of institutions, erosion of civil liberties, reduced judicial independence, and undermining of free elections". He described that often times, "leaders use legal means to concentrate power, limiting accountability and threatening democratic norms, values and the rule of law", and are becoming more domineering than ever.
Vassallo said that aside from continuing to nurture its institutions, "the State must truly invest in the invigoration of a healthy system of checks and balances to control excessive power in any arm of the State".
Pace quoted the definition pitched by American political scientist Nancy Bermeo, that democratic backsliding is "the deliberate weakening or dismantling of political institutions by those in power - institutions that are essential to maintaining a functioning democracy". He believes that this concept, nowadays, has shifted away from overt attempts of democratic collapse such as military coups, and instead leans toward "more subtle and insidious forms of erosion". Pace noted that in these latter cases, "democratic structures may remain outwardly intact, but are manipulated to serve authoritarian ends".
As international organisations, constitutional experts and retired judges have waved warning flags about the declining quality of Maltese democratic and governance institutions, Pace mentioned that Malta may be heading down a scenario "that no one genuinely desires".
He noted that according to The Economist this year, Malta is classified as a "flawed democracy", citing significant weaknesses in Malta's democratic framework when granting this classification. Additionally, Malta was also listed - by Freedom House in its 2025 Annual Report - among the countries that have experienced the steepest declines in freedom over the past decade.
Serious dialogue needed
Pace underscored that the World Bank's 2023 Governance Indicators illustrate that Malta's scores had fallen below 2013 levels across all six key government metrics. He also mentioned that the Group of States against Corruption (Greco) has expressed its disappointment that not all of its recommended reforms on preventing corruption with respect to MPs, judges and prosecutors in Malta had been implemented.
In this context, Pace told this newsroom that "these clear indicators point towards the need of a serious dialogue in our country".
In its 2019 recommendations, Greco called for Malta's cabinet to submit its declaration of assets every year, for these to be easily accessible online, and for clear consequences to be laid out in cases of non-compliance, entrusted by the Standards Commissioner - "including the possibility to refer a matter to criminal investigation".
Prime Minister Robert Abela has faced public scrutiny in recent times over not publishing cabinet members' declaration of assets for 2023. Standards Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi stated that the system surrounding the declaration of assets needs to be reformed, describing it as "deficient" and urged Parliament and the government to implement a reform to improve transparency, accountability and public access. The Standards Commissioner did not pursue any further investigations into complaints on this matter due to an apparent absence of a legal obligation.
When queried about this, Vassallo said that this was a big deal and "marks one step backwards in the standards of decency in public life and 10 steps further backwards in good governance". Moreover, he noted that worldwide, "there is already a manifested lack of trust among the commoners vis-à-vis the governing elites".
"An accentuated lack of transparency by those in power will continue to alienate the new generations from the political class," Vassallo said.
Pace remarked that if he were put in the same position as the Prime Minister, he would opt for full disclosure with the people - "not as a tactic, but as a commitment to the public trust".
He continued that transparency is central to this issue, and that as a democratic principle, transparency "ensures citizens can see, understand and evaluate how power is exercised on their behalf."
The importance of transparency
"It is the cornerstone of democratic accountability, making it far more difficult for corruption, abuse of power or incompetence to go unnoticed or unchecked. Individuals who have freely accepted to participate in public office must freely adhere to the highest levels of transparency," Pace said.
Pace sustained that transparency is not just a procedural virtue, but a moral imperative in a republic.
"Transparency empowers citizens to hold elected officials and institutions accountable, reinforcing the foundational republican value that sovereignty resides with the people, and that no one is above the law," he told this newsroom.
The academics said that the state of Maltese democracy "is not presently at its best". Vassallo said that this PL government only listens to the people when they threaten to use their votes as protest, the PN Opposition "is still suffering from weak leadership and its appeal to the masses is dwindling" and small parties are systematically disadvantaged by the electoral system.
He also observed that domestic television is still characterised by party stations, that "State television is a long way from being the nation's true soul" and that large chunks of the electorate is growing more indifferent to political participation.
Pace noted that while progress has been achieved vis-à-vis inclusion and social rights, our treatment of immigrants "continues to fall short of acceptable standards, and gender equality remains an unfulfilled promise". Fundamental reforms are also needed for main sectors like Parliament's independence, the judiciary, and the separation of powers, he added.
He also expressed concern on our "waning sense of solidarity with the oppressed", referencing Malta's hesitance on Palestinian people's "legitimate rights".
"Our failure to strongly condemn the genocide in Gaza is deeply troubling. Moreover, our cooperation with North African states on irregular migration management does not reflect a spirit of empathy or justice," Pace said.
Local councils
Since democratic backsliding is frequently associated with a shift toward autocracy, the two scholars were asked whether local councils across the Maltese islands should be granted greater authority to manage their local areas. This question was posed under the pretence that several local councils over recent years have lamented about being reduced to "residential customer care centres" as their powers have been stripped.
Pace said that "strengthening local councils by expanding their powers and responsibilities would not only uphold democratic values but also encourage greater citizen participation in grassroots politics". Furthermore, he believes that assigning more powers to local councils would foster "a more engaged, informed and resilient democratic society" through a more shared form of governance.
In this regard, Vassallo stated that local councils across the country "have always suffered from lack of adequate and effective decentralisation" and that this has worsened since the introduction of the "unelected regional level of governance", that is, the regional councils. In his view, this is one of the several reasons "why smart and competent people keep their distance from contesting for local councils".
Vassallo also remarked that the trend of power centralisation is not unique to the Maltese islands - it is being noted worldwide, potentially due to the increasing degree of uncertainties around us, he added.
On the subject of local councils, both academics were asked whether the mayorship change within the Għargħur Local Council was truly as disrespectful towards democracy as the Nationalist Party declared. Their differing responses highlight the complexity of the situation.
Pace said that this debacle "is not heroic, does not enhance democracy, and would have best been avoided". He said this power switch underscores the fragility of already strained local politics and that serious concerns on democratic integrity arose after the party that secured 62% of the locality's votes has ended up in the minority "due to a questionable procedural tactic".
"While calling it tyranny may be excessive, the fact that such a manoeuvre has been condoned reflects a troubling disregard for voters and for the democratic principles that should always rise above the temptation to gain power at any cost," Pace said.
Vassallo said that this changeover was done within the parameters of the law, and therefore, is not a question of a coup d'état as some quarters have implied. With allegations of bad governance on one side and lacking respect for the will of the majority on the other, he said that what happened in Għargħur "is a symptom of national and international politics wherein personalised and partisan political tactics have taken over the political principles of the common good, social justice and the true interests of the commoners".