For God’s sake: Let the President intervene

As head of state, President George Abela is called to intervene so that the institutions live up to the dignity the Constitution and, above all, the people of Malta expect of them.

Unfortunately, it is becoming intolerable to the democratic conscience of the citizens to witness the daily massacre of the dignity of the House of Representative whenever the question of marriage, divorce and, even more so, of the referendum arises.

Have our so-called representatives in the House not realised there is a majority of the electorate wanting that a free, clear referendum be held because, in reality, they are sick and tired of the bungling of the issue our so-called representatives have made of the entire issue?

Have they not realised the vast majority of the electorate will decide the question of marriage-divorce independently of what our so-called representatives wish us to think?

In a situation of exasperated division and personal agendas, which seem to becoming more and more like personal vendettas, the con­ditions to hold a parliamentary debate, let alone a free referendum, do not exist.

It is for this reason the President of Malta has to intervene in the manner in which the President of Italy did a few days ago requesting the institutions in the country to calm down and lower the tone of institutional confrontation surrounding the Berlusconi scandal so that the ensuing trial of the Italian Prime Minister takes place serenely.

Yet, reading yesterday’s press reports of the debate in Parliament made me feel ashamed to be Maltese!

One should note the issue was not to legalise divorce, neither was it on whether to hold a referendum or not. The issue was when to debate the motion on the referendum. Shame !

Long gone are the days of requesting the marriage-divorce debate should be free from political controversy! Now even the issue of when to hold the debate, it was reported, is bringing into question the very stability of the government. Unbelievable!

So Parliament, in which no MP has an electoral mandate to impose divorce on his/her fellow citizens, is now threatening the electorate with what? With the chance of opening a crisis in government simply because the debate will be held next week and not today? Unacceptable.

President Giorgio Napolitano did say that if the institutions are in­capable to uphold the dignity the citizens expect of them there would be no other solution but to go directly to an election.

Sincerely, many of the Maltese voters have become sick and tired of the political and media circus surrounding the single-minded obsession of some MPs to impose their agenda on the rest of the country making us voters sometimes feel we are living in a Mubarak democracy.

Let us voters spell it out to all of MPs: It is shameful the divorce issue has been hijacked by factious, partisan and even personal political exasperation.

At this stage of events it is the right of all voters to ask the proponents of the divorce Bill to declare exactly how far are they prepared to go to get what they want even on such issues as to whether the debate takes place within a few days or not. We need clear declarations from all MPs they are free agents of their leaders and parties and that the issue is not to serve any hidden ulterior motive to destabilise the country at a moment in which every country is doing its best to avoid political earthquakes in times of international crisis.

The President is the only institutional figure with enough constitutional authority to request we voters be allowed to decide in full serenity what we want and without outside conditioning from our so-called representatives. We cannot vote with the proverbial sword of Democles hanging on our head and that of the institutions.

If the conditions for a free referendum are missing then, before we hold one, let us elect a Parliament that will respect us more than the present one!