A shifting trend

Karl Gouder's assessment (April 26) that over the past few years there has been a move towards more unity and consensus among youth organisations is clearly correct.

Structures such as the National Youth Council (KNZ) and other prominent representative organisations are engaged in debates of a political nature by virtue of their representative role. The emergence of a stronger civil society over the past years has contributed to the redefinition of the term "political". In common parlance, unfortunately, the word "political" often implies activism within and on behalf of political parties. This tends to cast aside the notion that every person is essentially a "political animal".

It is very evident that in Malta, like in other countries, the political sphere is dominated almost exclusively by political parties. This is why some of us would like to see a clearer shift in political dynamics which guarantees enough space for civil society organisations to give their legitimate contribution to our democratic and political development.

In a scenario where party politics tend to dominate the political realm, it is to be expected that party interests make their way into the structures of civil society organisations such as the National Youth Council. That political parties' interests are represented is not a bad thing. The problem arises when agendas become dominated by such interests and ulterior motives. The exclusion (in practice if not on paper) of groups and individuals who are not politically militant in the traditional sense but who represent particular views is sometimes a negative result of political bulldozing by party interests.

This kind of unwarranted intrigue and rivalry can lead to the malfunctioning of civil society organisations, with serious implications for the democratic process. While every now and then some politicians accuse young people and students of being apathetic, very few of them reflect on the role their parties play in bringing about this situation. Whenever parties (or individuals within parties) directly or indirectly, sometimes rudely too, interfere in the workings of these organisations, a good number of young people simply keep back from participating.

Unity and consensus require that, when it comes to discussions, decision-making and forming structures, the ultimate motivation would be the good of those being represented. The shift that Mr Gouder described was partly (and, I would say, mostly) due to the fact that young people themselves, independently of whether or not they belong to political parties, embarked on a gradual but effective work of persuasion based on the fact that very often political allegiances have very little to do with the actual work of representative structures. Or, to put it more clearly, political allegiances should never come before the interests of those being represented.

This created an atmosphere where many understood, through the experience of good practice, that, while young people coming from party backgrounds should have their space within representative structures on the basis of their merits and commitment, they do not have an automatic claim to fill those roles. Moreover, such roles can also be filled by equally committed individuals who do not belong to political parties. The result was a fresh composition of structures such as KNZ, where people from different backgrounds had the opportunity to work together in the interest of the people they represent. The moral legitimacy of their role as representatives, I think, was also consolidated.

My experience in various organisations, including the National Youth Council, which I presided over during an important moment in the shift Mr Gouder described, has taught me that young people often have two clearly distinct options. They can choose the path of complacency and perpetuate the modus operandi of political parties vis-à-vis civil society organisations, or else they can alter the state of affairs. This was the choice which people from within and without political parties had to face. When everyone was given the space to work, the results were a significant change in the image of the National Youth Council, in the way in which it operates and a gradual increase in participation and fair representation.

A National Youth Council that works well can also promote active participation beyond its own structures. A case in point is the pilot-project of the local youth councils, which I had initiated as president of the National Youth Council and which was successfully continued and developed by the following KNZ executive. This and similar projects have the potential to contribute towards establishing a more creative, fair and diverse political environment. It can help redefine the notion of the "political" by encouraging more individuals and groups to play a political role, in the wide and true sense of the word. It is in this sense that I agree with Mr Gouder's claim that "the future of politics lies with our youth".

Mr De Lucca chaired the Commonwealth Youth Forum held in Malta last year.