Threatened again

Simone Zammit Endrich correctly stated that the Labour Party's reaction to the referendum outcome - being a dangerous threat to democracy - prompted her decision to vote for the Nationalist Party in the April 2003 general election.

This was a quasi replica of the reason why in December 1981 following the general election perverse result, I decided to join the Nationalist Party as an activist, having felt that freedom had been snatched from me. The political scenario then was that of a party supported by 50 per cent in opposition and a party supported by 49 per cent in government. The PN's consistent resistance policy led to amendments in the Constitution in order to safeguard the people's democratic rights.

Today, 20 years later, we are faced with the re-emergence of a similar threat. As Ms Zammit Endrich rightly warned: "Do not allow anyone to deprive you of your sovereign right to make democratic choices above those of the politicians." At this point in time it is extremely essential to defend democracy in which the supreme power is vested in the people. Only a well-informed people can make the difference.

The democratic credentials of the European Union are reflected in the innumerable educational programmes for all age groups and the importance attached to the need to give space to the civil society within which citizens are empowered to become major actors in a real democracy.

As John Stuart Mill rightly puts it: "Men, as well as women, do not need political rights in order that they may govern, but in order that they may not be misgoverned."