The recent violent incidents of political intolerance have again highlighted the absolute need of moderation in Maltese politics. Indeed, I believe that given the political progress registered in this country over the years allied to the fact that the vast majority of the population today can boast of a basic education, incidents of political intolerance and violence should only belong to the bad memories of the past when Malta was still a developing country.
However, political tolerance and a tranquil political atmosphere in a country have to be worked for; they cannot be taken for granted. The main political parties can do a lot towards creating an atmosphere of political tolerance in Malta.
Let me start with the so-called "hardcore" elements in political parties. These have always been the bane of Maltese politics and, indeed, the world over. It is, therefore, essential that all party members elect to positions of political power persons who are well known for their moderate political stance.
If we want moderation in politics, then we cannot elect party delegates who are firebrands, who view the other side as "enemies", who regard political criticism as "incitement". The same applies, at a higher level, to members of the party administration and the executive. These are the persons who make the important decisions in political parties, the persons who have a great influence on party policy. It is, thus, essential that they should be persons who are moderate in their political views.
It is needless to stress that the most important choices are those of candidates for local councils, European Parliament members and members of the Maltese Parliament. I, for one, have never voted for a candidate who is even remotely associated with any form of political extremism. Potential voters should be aware of the importance of the choices they make when giving candidates their confidence. How many times have we heard of the work of a local council being disrupted because of the extremist stance of one of the councillors? How many times have we witnessed laudable national initiatives sabotaged by the opposition of one, or two rather extreme MPs?
It is heartening to note that both Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat are well known for their moderate approach to politics and all national problems. Fortunately, they are in a position to effect positive changes.
As I have mentioned before, most people today are educated and they will simply not tolerate anything reminiscent of the violent and confrontational style of Maltese politics in the past. Witness the unpopularity of a particular Nationalist minister whose crude and rough approach have made him extremely unpopular even with his own colleagues and with many moderate PN supporters.
The political parties' media have a very important part to play in creating a platform upon which to build the structure of political moderation.
Output that is informative, positively argumentative and constructively critical can go a long way towards achieving such an aim. Let's face it, most people today go for that kind of media output that is of a certain quality and respects a person's intelligence. Do you think that, in this day and age, people cannot see through baseless arguments that are nothing but partisan political propaganda? People today vote intelligently and they seek media output of quality to inform themselves on political matters.
We also need the public to be better informed about Malta's political history. Political history should not be about which political party was the most successful in the past. It should not be used to castigate the opposing political party about any unsavoury incidents in its past. It should highlight, instead, those aspects that remain a positive lesson to the politicians of today.
How many people today know that in the 1920s, the Labour Party formed a coalition government with the Unione Politica Maltese, the forerunner of the present Nationalist Party? How many know the details of the "Compact" between Gerald Strickland's Constitutional Party and the Labour Party and the pioneer social legislation enacted by the Compact government?
These are the political episodes of our history that we should stress on more and not just concentrate on the negative ones to berate the opposing political party. We have stressed the negative aspects of Malta's political history for so long that youngsters are sometimes at a total loss to understand how the Nationalists could have possibly cooperated with the Labourites in the now distant past.
That is the direct result of always having been fed a diet of political confrontation and totally negative criticism of one's political rivals.
Political moderation benefits everyone. Let's work for it today for a better tomorrow for Malta's younger and future generations.