As a person actively involved in Maltese politics, I regularly meet citizens who have a very negative view of political life in Malta. Many equate politics with partisanship, clientelism, corruption, Machiavellianism, artificiality, oligarchy posing as democracy, etc. Yes, Maltese politics, like politics everywhere else, does have its ugly aspects. However, the pity lies in the fact that little is done to change aspects of political life that are distasteful to the ordinary citizen.

I am one of those who believe that the blatant lack of education of many political activists is largely to blame for the political immaturity and intolerance that still exists in our country. Middle-aged people like me consider today's situation as a blessing compared to what we had to endure in the volatile and overcharged political climate of our youth but I also believe that, given the advanced state of public political maturity in most western European countries, Malta is still backward in this regard in the year 2007.

Let us start with the people who formulate political party policies, those who elect the party leadership and administration and who have to approve every major political decision to be taken: The party delegates. Is it not time that all Maltese political parties ensure that people who stand for election as party delegates should have at least a basic standard of education? Because I find it incredible that general conferences discuss policy documents dealing with such topics as education, the economy, the environment, etc., and then one finds that some of the party delegates who are called upon to approve/reject/modify such documents are, sometimes, either semi-literate or, in a few cases, even illiterate!

Is it any wonder then that in Maltese political parties one finds a hardcore of activists with anti-democratic ideas? Activists who see politics as some form of investment where one works for one's political party and expects good return in the future when it is elected to power, like, say, a job in the public service, an undeserved promotion, etc. The lack of education of such people leads them to view with contempt the noble concept of serving one's political party for love of one's country, for the public good, or to realise an ideal. Only petty utilitarian rewards make sense to them. A Nationalist government for Nationalists only, a Labour government for Labourites only, etc., seem perfectly logical to them. What perhaps many people don't realise is the fact that the majority of political party members are moderates with a healthy, democratic view of political life. However, the hardcore, because of their very nature, make more noise and attract more media attention and are often mistakenly taken to represent the majority view of a particular political party.

Which brings me to the subject of political intellectuals. In the past, these were the heart and soul of Maltese political parties. Today, I feel that the intellectuals have been pushed to the periphery of political activism. The political grassroots are today dominated by people who are good organisers, good fund-raisers, good canvassers. Most political intellectuals today work by looking inside a particular political party from a standpoint on the periphery of the political party's grassroots as well as its most important structures. This is detrimental to the development of quality politics in Malta.

Perhaps, the single most important reform in Maltese politics would be having general elections based on the whole of the Maltese islands as a single constituency as suggested by columnist Lino Spiteri before me (September 24). This would go a long way towards eliminating the parochial aspect of Maltese politics and eradicating clientelism from political life because each candidate would have the whole Maltese islands as his/her constituency and not just one or two electoral districts.

The changes I have mentioned would be difficult to achieve because there are too many vested interests involved in retaining the status quo in Maltese political life as it is today. Still, trying today could bring results for the citizens of tomorrow.