More than games

The Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) were an exceptional event which promoted the much-needed national unity in our country. This could not have come at a better time. It made all of us feel Maltese and Gozitans rather than Labourites, Nationalists, Greens or whatever.

Debate is always healthy, especially in politics. Nevertheless, during the past months we have been experiencing an almost surreal extension of this debate. People who, unlike myself, experienced the 1960s will tell you that it was very easy to compare the tension which accumulated on the question of European Union membership issue with that of the politico-religious clash some 40 years back.

The respected veteran author and television producer George Peresso made one statement that really struck me towards the end of the referendum campaign. Airing his views about the issue, Mr Peresso expressed his concern that the way things were going, brothers and sisters would once again not look into each other's eyes because of politics.

Whether or not Mr Peresso was right, I will leave it for you to decide. What is certainly true is that the EU membership issue is now settled and that we, as Maltese, must get our act together to ensure that our country gets what it deserves in this new context.

Unfortunately, certain statements do not help instil this much-needed mentality. The Nationalist secretary general's labelling civil servants with Labour sympathies as forming part of some type of "web" ready to sabotage the work of the Nationalist government is a step in the wrong direction. Surely, this was not in the spirit of the Ninsew id-differenzi (Let's get over our differences) billboard.

I submit again that once the electorate has made its decision, we must work together to see that we get the promised results and to protect those who will suffer from the decision about Malta's membership of the EU.

This does not mean we will not have any political debate or that we will have a situation of perpetual consensus between political parties. What many hope and envisage is a situation where we all give our contribution in a political, economic and social debate which is not pre-judged by the background of the person making the contribution.

Furthermore, organisations and people that disagree or disapprove of certain policies or measures should not be labelled as some sort of irresponsible trouble-makers but recognised as genuinely trying to put forward their opposing view for debate in a truly democratic manner.

All this is achievable.

The two main political parties should lead by example. People are fed up of lip service. In order to make the necessary quantum leap in politics, the media controlled by political parties should do away, once and for all, with character assassination campaigns. Such campaigns only provoke hate, hate and even more hate.

Let us put a stop and draw a fresh line. I pledge my commitment to move forward on this line of thought so far as I am concerned. I am convinced that many well-meaning people from all sides of the political spectrum will concur.

National unity should not be reserved for one-off occasions such as the recent Small Nations Games. It must be an on-going way of doing things and the framework within which we can exchange our ideas.

The author is the Malta Labour Party's education secretary