Brazen contempt of democracy

The analysis of the consequences of the last general election will no doubt go on for many more months, if not years. But one particular consequence of the final outcome of this election is already very evident: the party in government increasingly believes that it can bulldoze its way in the political life of the country with complete insensitivity to the opinion of almost half of the electorate who preferred a change in the way the country was being governed.

With the slimmest of majorities, the Prime Minister has started taking initiatives which show how little he values the true meaning of democracy.

Rather than consult the opposition on important issues, he uses his legal power to reverse decisions made by a previous Administration.

He did so without caring to inform the people about his intentions in the run-up to an election when politicians should be conducting the most transparent of dialogues with the people on the eve of making important decisions for the future of our country.

The hasty decision to rejoin Partnership for Peace without even consulting the opposition does not augur well for the future harmonious relationships that should exist between two political parties that represent almost equally the citizens of this country. What the government has done is, no doubt, legal but there is even less doubt that such action constitutes a brazen disregard of democracy.

The Gonzi Administration thought that it could fool the electorate even further by proposing that the Speaker of the next Parliament should be a member of the House from the opposition side.

This Nationalist government is back to using its traditional tools for managing the country: a lethal mixture of arrogance, the rubbishing of the views of the representatives of almost half of the electorate and the cynical belief that in a democracy you can really fool people for four and a half years and then in the remaining six months present yourself in a humble and contrite way to win the day.

No doubt, there are some faceless little people in the Pietà headquarters who believe that the proposal to deprive the opposition of one of its members and, by doing so, double the government's majority, is an ingenious brainwave that proves the political cunning and cheeky confidence of the Nationalist strategists. But time will prove how silly are the people making such proposal.

The Labour opposition will be loyal to democracy and for us that means primarily loyal to the people who in the last election voted for us and for a change in the way the country was being governed. We will not give up any one of the tools that democracy gives to the opposition to defend the interest of the people. Put in another way, the party in government must not expect any favours from the opposition but must learn to live with managing the country with a one-seat majority, which represents the few hundred votes that it has more than the party in opposition.

Of course, we will not be obstructive. We will cooperate with the government whenever it is in the national interest to do so. We will monitor every move the government makes to see whether we can detect signs of goodwill in the respect of the rights, aspirations and dignity of half of the population represented by the opposition.

Whoever is elected leader of the Labour Party in a few weeks' time will, no doubt, defend the interests of the core of citizens who believe in the true values of democracy and who do so every day of the political life of the country.

He, or she, will not just be the leader of a homogenous group of people who always nourished social democratic beliefs but of a broader group of those who believe that the interests of common people come before the narrow political considerations of the party in power.

The political landscape of the country will no doubt change in the coming years and I am confident that, despite the low morale in the Labour camp in the present moment, our party will once again inspire our people to a true commitment to democracy and love for the common good.

Dr Mangion is acting leader of the Labour Party.