Much was said about the party leaders debate held at the University of Malta last week. 

It was the first debate of this general election campaign, and it is also the only debate which featured the leaders of not just the PL and PN, but of smaller parties ADPD, Momentum, and Ahwa Maltin on the same stage.

Yet many people chose to focus their post-debate analysis less on the party leaders and what they said but more on the crowd, which was eminently partisan - half in favour of the PL, and half in favour of the PN.

The more unfair - and somewhat sanctimonious - commentary tried to draw the grandiose conclusion that the partisan crowd of youths was a sign that there is little to no hope for the younger generations ever appreciating the concept of critical thought, and that the University population is more focused on blind partisanism than on understanding what is going on around them.

The first thing about this debate, organised by the Malta University Debating Union and student council KSU, that should be noted and that has not been given any attention is that it is the only debate which puts the leaders of all political parties on the same stage.

Later debates held by the Malta Chamber, the Chamber of SMEs, XTRA on TVM, and also the debate which is presumably still to come through the Broadcasting Authority focused purely and solely on the PL and the PN.

You would think that these debate organisers would realise that politics in Malta is more than just the PL and the PN, and recognise that voters have the right to see and listen to all political parties, not just the two that they are used to.

The greater attention was drawn to the audience of the debate.  The audience was a highly partisan one: part of the crowd was heavily in favour of the PL, and another part was heavily in favour of the PN.  The debate was dominated by jeers and heckling from both sides in what can be described as a cheap display of blind party politics.

However, to suggest that the behaviour of this crowd reflects the behaviour of the whole University community or the attitude of the student population - as some have done - is beyond comprehension.

Any community and demographic contains people of all kinds of belief - and that includes those who are more ingrained into party politics than others. Suggesting that a whole University community of over 12,000 students and a greater youthful demographic is politically close-minded due to the actions of 100 to 120 of that demographic is a deeply immature, and just as close-minded opinion.

Yes, the scenes of partisanism displayed during the debate are not scenes which one would necessarily want to see at a debate on the University's campus. 

University debates have always been rowdy affairs - this isn't the first time, and it won't be the last: but the only alternative to avoiding that is by the University and organisers banning people from attending the debate - which is an altogether worse proposition.

Kudos goes to the Malta University Debating Union and KSU for the organisation of this debate.