Shifting sovereignty

There have been times during the present legislature when Labour MPs speculated about an early election. Many faithful MLP supporters fell for these predictions and certainly judging by their phone calls and letters to Labour's media, one can say that they expected the early fall of the PN government elected in 1998.

Some of these early election predictions were so "precise" that they made one wonder whether the writers were privy to either the Cabinet itself or the PN's inner sanctum. Some columnists cited the imminent collapse of the economy to back up their claims. No wonder they were believed by the uninitiated!

Now Alfred Mifsud argues that as the government's mandate is coming to an end, the referendum should not be held prior to the next election. Now either Mr Mifsud has a fetish about mandates and their validity, or he is out to confuse the issue.

A government's mandate and its longevity are clearly spelled out by the Constitution and it has the right and duty to implement its popularly approved manifesto as far as possible within an agreed time frame. It is only when a dissolution of parliament is declared that a government's electoral mandate comes to an end.

It is very much part and parcel of the political game that opposition parties accuse governments of reneging on their party electoral manifesto and in this respect the MLP is no exception. Parties in opposition, if and when elected, have to assess the feasability of their manifesto pledges and make a political judgement about their implementation.

But the promise of a referendum made by the PN on Malta's entry into the EU following the successful completion of negotiations is no ordinary pledge. We are not talking here about tinkering with the tax system, or different ways of dealing with education, health, crime and so on.

We are talking about a fundamental change in Malta's political status which is going to affect not only Malta's present population but also many generations to come. Malta's membership of the EU is going to change the way in which we do things in vital areas of our economy and our environment, to mention just two important aspects of our lives.

To argue that the referendum pledge can be put aside is to show scant understanding of the implications of EU membership. And here comes the contradiction entailed in such a position. Because if one believes what the MLP keeps telling us, that EU "full" membership means a loss of our sovereignty; a loss of our jobs to foreigners; a loss of our property to rich EU citizens, then the argument in favour of a referedum on such a radical change in our way of life becomes even more convincing.

An election certainly doesn't have the same far-reaching political consequences, afterall a government may collapse much earlier in its term of office as happened in 1998 and the electorate has a choice of renewing its mandate or to throw it out. Governments come and go, but the sovereignty of the people as expressed in referenda is not subject to the same disposability.

Mr Mifsud argues that if and when the PN wins the election, they should then hold the referendum and it will no doubt win an overwhelming endorsement for membership of the EU. One has to ask, is an election result sufficient or not for the MLP as an expression of the people's wishes? Why even entertain holding a referendum after the next election if the PN wins the election given that the MLP wants an election to sort out the question of EU membership once and for all? In any case, is the sovereignty of the people as expressed in a referendum after an election more valid than the same sovereignty expressed prior to an election?

The MLP has got itself tied up in knots and every effort to untie itself seems to lead to disrespect or even contempt of people's sovereign wishes.

After all the leader of the MLP himself in the past was categorical about the necessity of a referendum to determine whether the people of Malta wanted membership of the EU or not, but then it was Alfred Sant too who declared the present government as illegitimate after the people voted for it in 1998 in a free and fair election organised under his own government. Labour's democratic credentials leave a lot to be desired.