Beyond gesture politics

The inter-personal relationships between our political leaders have rarely been more civil than they are at present. This is undoubtedly a welcome development because, at the end of the day, conducting political business, as indeed any other business, is much less stressful when the persons involved not only tolerate each other but actually appreciate that their different perspectives enrich the political dialectic.

However, serious politics should not just be about friendly gestures between political adversaries but about a serious confrontation of ideas aimed at promoting a more democratic society.

The Labour Party leader, who has admirable skills in empathising with ordinary people that have varying degrees of commitment to politics, has taken an important step to upgrade the political debate in the country beyond gesture politics.

The time is right for both major political parties to make brave decisions to strengthen democracy for the common good.

With a government whose majority is a few hundred votes and an opposition committed to renew itself after decades in the wilderness, it is crucial to reform certain aspects of our political life to ensure politicians are really at the service of the community.

The proposals made by Joseph Muscat to the government, as a prerequisite to any agreement about parliamentary pairing, are crucial for the strengthening of democracy.

For instance, I am sure that most Maltese people, whatever their political allegiance, would want to ensure that the party they support is not conditioned by the donations of big business whose interest may not necessarily centre round the good of ordinary people.

Similarly, the reform in public broadcasting should ensure that the people's right to be informed is not tarnished by biased broadcasting, which seems to come naturally to officials whose main qualification is undoubted loyalty to the party in government.

This is why the MLP is making the very sensible proposal that the leaders and officials of our public broadcasting should be people who enjoy the trust of both political parties.

Equally important is the proposal that the government's income from the excise charged on fuel should be capped to mitigate the already tremendous burden that escalating fuel prices is having on families.

This is not only a socially-sound proposal but also one which gives our businesses a chance to cope with the onslaught of spiralling costs.

We need to give the operators in our economy the assistance that we can to ensure that they remain competitive and continue to create wealth and employment.

At the same time, the government would be really implementing its role as a regulator within the economy without any direct or unwarranted direct intervention .

Another significant proposal made to the government is that those who have been declared victims of acts of injustice should be adequately compensated. Unfortunately, political discrimination in organisations where the government still appoints the key managers is still evident. It is unacceptable that those who have the courage to challenge such discriminatory behaviour and prove their case to an official arbiter like the Ombudsman are then denied justice by the government's failure to implement the decision of such an arbiter.

Equally important is that the representatives of the people in Parliament are given adequate resources to enable them to carry out their duties to the electorate effectively.

This is vitally important for the party in opposition that does not have the luxury of the civil service and an army of consultants to advise it on current issues that affect the lives of so many people.

One hopes that the government appreciates the spirit in which these proposals have been made.

The MLP's genuine motivation behind these proposals is not related to scoring political points but is inspired by a commitment to improve the democratic standards that should govern political life in a modern EU country. May the response of the government be equally inspired by a similar passionate desire to promote democratic values.

Dr Mangion is Leader of the Opposition.

cmangion@keyworld.net, www.mangioncharles.com