Drawing the line

When Cherie Blair, wife of Tony Blair, stepped into the muddy waters of Middle East politics and stated that "as long as young people feel they have got no hope but to blow themselves up, you are never going to make progress", the British prime minister soon made a public appearance to put her in her place and restated British policy, a secure Israeli state and a Palestinian state respectful of agreed borders.

Prime ministers and leaders of political parties become very jealous of what is considered as government or party policy, so much so that they act swiftly to correct any misunderstandings especially if the matter concerns foreign policy. They tend to be guarded in their comments and clear in their delivery. And that is how it should be. Ambiguity in this field causes uncertainty and possible lack of trust, be it political or economic.

For a political leader to espouse a cause with vigour and determination for many long years and then for reasons which are purely opportunistic, offer to ditch the same hallowed cause in a weird imaginary pact with his opponent, betrays some lack of belief in his own leadership or in his cause. Alfred Sant has decided that the battle he and his troops have been fighting is not after all a worthy cause to die for.

Now, according to reliable sources, we are told that Dr Sant's grey matter thoughts were just personal and therefore of no great importance. The question has to be asked: Can politicians who occupy high office such as leaders of political parties hold personal opinions and should they be allowed to air them in public? Of course no one can deprive politicians from holding personal opinions but they cannot afford the luxury of making these opinions public for the sake of their party and their country.

When politicians announce opinions which run counter to their party's accepted policies, they are letting down their own party officials, their colleagues, their party members and supporters. They also reduce their party policy-making bodies to mere talk shops. A line has to be drawn somewhere to mark the boundaries between personal opinion and what is perceived as party policy.

Talking of boundaries, what is accepted fare in private meetings should not be assumed to be acceptable in public meetings especially if these happen to be international fora.

At the recent EU Youth Convention in Brussels, Dr Sant's appointed representative, Silvan Mifsud, made an incredible statement. He announced to the whole of Europe: "I come from a very small country which rarely if ever influences anything on a world stage basis, and I think that the law of nature will see that it will remain like this." What a dismissal of Malta's history!

Has Silvan Mifsud never heard of the Great Siege? Has he never heard of Malta's valiant stance during the last war? To more recent times, has he never heard of Malta's contribution in the United Nations since its independence and its efforts to set the Euro Med process on a sound footing? Silvan Mifsud is a product of New Labour, fed and watered on Dr Sant's personal and public thoughts.

Being a young man still in his formative years, he can be excused his blunt denial of Malta's achievements both as a nation and as a people. This unfortunate episode should emphasise the great responsibility that political leaders have when they put their thoughts to print.

Their young followers especially and their supporters in general are entitled to feel secure about the beliefs and policies that they espouse. Anything less is contemptous of the importance that these beliefs and policies are supposed to have.