Fame is fleeting

One of the first laws to be promulgated after Malta became a republic was the 1975 Gieh ir-Repubblika Act, that is Chapter 251 of the Laws of Malta. This law governs the conferment of medals and created a national order of merit. Fittingly enough, it has become practice for the state to hand out such medals or titles on Republic Day. Various and varied are the personalities, both local and foreign, who over the years were privileged enough to be so honoured by the state of Malta. Such people, in fact, came from all walks of life and have, as a rule, been selected on the basis of merit and service to the republic.

The former Labour government has, however, occasionally been on the receiving end of severe criticism for a number of choices it made over the years in this respect. In fact, I must state that I myself have never fully concurred with all the nominations made and I would dare state that, to my mind, some were less deserving than others.

Ironically, however, during more recent times, it has been this present Nationalist administration that has been criticised similarly, though, undoubtedly, the majority of the personalities selected to achieve the republic's finest honours where more than deserving. Others, to say the least, came as a surprise. It must be pointed out that some persons have, with tongue in cheek, been audacious enough to whisper that some of the people included in the lists to be granted honorary titles resembled more a Who's Who of the Nationalist Party than anything else. To my mind such criticism is not without basis.

Surprisingly enough, if one were to analyse carefully the majority of names contained in such lists, one would definitely realise that more often than not the majority of people so nominated would have had very close connections with this present administration. This is not to say that the people mentioned lacked merit but that there could be others no less deserving and harbouring different political affiliations who would have been unjustly omitted. The way things are being handled are, unfortunately, beginning to smack of bi-partisan political intrigue. This is definitely unacceptable.

The end result of such an attitude will be the erosion of the prestige of the honours being granted. In fact, if things continue in this fashion there surely will be a time when most will start to shun the ceremony itself.

The President is presumed to be super partes, in the sense that he should be held above political intricacies. Undoubtedly, this is not the easiest thing to achieve for a person who for more than a generation embodied one side of the political spectrum. It must be granted that, in truth, supposedly it is not the Head of State who is empowered to make the said selections, though it cannot be denied either that the President himself would surely carry certain weight and exert a certain degree of influence.

In our system, it is the government that has the prerogative to choose those who are to be awarded the annual state honours. When the government in this regard appears to be acting in a biased fashion the same government would be making a disservice to the Head of State himself. The reason for this is that in the eyes of the public at large it would be the President who is assuming the authority and the responsibility for the conferment of such honours. So, in the final analysis, it will be the President himself who would end up receiving the criticism.

It seems the law provides for an ad hoc committee with the responsibility of assisting the government in such matters. It would appear that in this day and age the workings of this body are too secretive and far from transparent. Given the criticism being made in this regard, it is surely the time to review the workings of the said committee. This should be made more accountable.

The law of 1975 in one instant abolished all previously-existing titles, whether local or foreign, and introduced the exclusive ones to be recognised by the state. Let us hope at least that these will not end up being reserved for the privileged few and being used as a means of just rewarding political loyalty.

Dr Herrera is a Labour member of Parliament.