Responsible political behaviour

Regrettably, the pre-election fever has started, with much heat and sound coming from politicians.

On October 24, 1998, during a Mass celebrated on the occasion of the opening of Parliament, attended by MPs from both sides of the House, Archbishop Joseph Mercieca had stressed during his homily that "the Church did not bind itself in any way to any particular political party or any particular form of culture or to any economic, social or political system. However, the Church cannot remain silent in politics, in the face of all that involves man because the Church is the sign and defender of the transcendental character of the human person".

He also explained that the mature political leader needed to place the common good at the top of everything, whatever the circumstances. The common good can never be sacrificed to serve the egoistic desires of individuals or sectors of the electorate fearing that if a politician did not do so, he would lose votes.

Politicians' behaviour in other countries is similar. In October 1996, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales issued a statement entitled 'The Common Good' in which it said that "Politics is an honourable vocation, which often extracts great personal cost from those who engage in it, and from their families. The fact that some politicians from time to time fall short of the highest standards is not grounds for dismissing the whole class of politician as unworthy of respect."

However, the bishops added "at the same time, politicians must be especially careful not to use, or to appear to use, their privileged position for personal gain. Those politicians who have, by their behaviour, contributed to a climate of distrust must bear some considerable responsibility. Part of the responsibility must also be with the highly partisan quality of public political debate, where it has become almost customary to attribute the worst motives to one's political opponents.

"Politicians of one party should show more respect towards those of other parties. Those who engage in political abuse can expect retaliation in kind, and they are inviting the public to believe the worst about all politicians of every political persuasion."