Leadership that demonstrates courage and honour should not be an exception, but the bare minimum that voters should demand. Constitutional duty requires courage, not conformity. A lack of political courage is damaging our nation. When the politics of paranoia are in the air, the courage of politicians is usually in short supply. This famine of political courage is nothing new.

Cowardice often masquerades as courage. No one wants to admit they are acting in cowardice, especially someone whose livelihood is built on public opinion. We do not like cowards, so politicians cannot be seen as such. However, they often act the part. To do so, they must mask their cowardice as an act of strength. They have to mask what they are doing. They have to invent a political power that they are claiming to attack while hiding the beneficiaries of their actions.

Our elected officials have demonstrated a lack of courage to do the right thing because of a fear of personal consequences, criticism and party pressures. Politicians voting as the party demands instead of as their conscience dictates has become the norm.

It is a real tragedy for all those voters who have no party allegiance whatsoever, commonly known as floating voters, to have to see elected officials kowtowing to their own party line and to powerful constituents, despite the need for non-partisan behaviour and conscientious thought. This occurs on both sides of the aisle and is commonly accepted as good governance. Is this really the way it has to be?

Why do we accept this when we go to the ballot box? Whatever happened to independent thought and having the courage to make difficult decisions by those we elect, even at their own political peril? We can and must demand this from our elected leaders, and voters should hold politicians accountable for their past decisions at reelection time.

True democracy puts faith in people who elect others to not only represent their views ably and faithfully but also exercise their own conscientious judgement. Courage, therefore, should be rewarded and honour respected. Democracy requires more than popular government and majority rule. Each elected official has a choice to make during a crisis of national unity: courage or compliance.

This famine of political courage has become increasingly apparent during the past year, as demonstrated with issues surrounding the abortion parliamentary debate, the Sofia public inquiry controversy, the Vital Stewards Hospitals raw deal, and other corrupt or fraudulent national projects, to name a few. When the rule of law, the well-being of citizens and the good governance of our country are at stake, courage from our elected leaders is of paramount importance.

Unfortunately, in today's political climate, most politicians retreat into compliance with the party line and are often silent rather than rebuking the party rhetoric. Silence is the antithesis of courage. Preserving democratic principles requires a willingness to defend them and to make sacrifices on their behalf.

The average honest Maltese citizen can easily discern true political courage when they tell the truth about sticky topics, speak up when they feel strongly about something, take responsibility instead of placing blame, give people latitude, know they do not know everything, take the easy way out only if it is the right way, do not pretend to not know what they know and do not ignore what is causing weight and drag in their party.

Political courage requires our elected representatives to disclose the reality that the time has come to end tax credits, to cut spending on a programme that benefits the powerful, to encourage compromise, to work with their opponents to the chagrin of their friends, to compliment someone from the other party when deserved, and to call out a member of their own party.

We have too many political cowards and not enough courage. Elected enablers of Labour and Nationalist idiocy must start speaking the truth to those to whom they now pander out of fear.

I reject the romanticised notion that leaders demonstrate political courage solely because they love the public better than themselves. To the contrary, political courage often stems from politicians' love of themselves because they need to maintain their own respect for themselves and because their desire to maintain a reputation for integrity is stronger than their desire to maintain their office.

It is when the politician loves neither the public good nor himself, or when his love for himself is limited and is satisfied by the trappings of office, that the public interest is badly served. If we continue ignoring the cowardice of most of our political leaders and do not react thereto, we too will have failed to love both the public good and ourselves.

If no one introduced bigotry or other forms of social pathology and moral idiocy into the political life of our nation, all would be right with us. That would be a different country from the one in which we currently live.

The plea to local and national elected officials is simple. During seminal moments that summon independent thought and courageous action, regardless of the personal consequences that may follow, vote your conscience, not your party or ideology. It may not guarantee you get re-elected, but then again, you might just find voters appreciate your honesty and reward your demonstrated courage with their vote. Remember, you represent all Maltese, not just those in your party.

Dr Mark Said is a lawyer