Pique is less important than democracy

In a small country like Malta, 2,800 votes are an enormous number. The fact they belong to young people of 18 makes it even more important. These are people who have the right to decide their future for themselves. The denial of their voting rights in the forthcoming referendum is serious and slaps democracy in the face.

I will not dwell on the hundreds of arguments about who is to blame for this unfortunate situation. The fact is it’s there and it should not be.

I believe few are happy about not allowing these young people to vote. They could be those who are also against voting at 16 (as if young men still wear khaki shorts today and hold mum’s hand in the street) and probably those who still think that allowing under-21s to vote was not a good idea.

Those who had a say in the matter could have got together, discussed it and solved it. Pique is much less important than democracy. If some ultra conservatives think they can win a battle by blocking young peoples’ vote, they naïvely ignore the fact they are contributing to their losses in the war.

As from the 1980s, many have written in various papers on the issue of divorce. This is one reason why I was surprised to hear some politicians a year ago state it was time for the issue of divorce to start being discussed. My reaction on hearing this was: But if it has already been discussed for many years, why say now that the pluperfect is the perfect or, in less grammatical terms, why say “has arrived” when the reality is “had arrived”?

Twenty years ago, proposing a referendum of this type was considered ridiculous as it was roughly calculated that this civil right issue was several decades away. I do remember, however, that militant conservatives used to say that divorce would be accepted in Malta “over our dead bodies”. While still staunchly “anti” all forms of remarriage, the “over-my-dead-body” brigade has dwindled in energy, especially since different survey results are associating the referendum with the election of less than two years’ time.

Indeed, the debate about the referendum question is related to one principal matter: If the majority – political partisanship ignored – voted for the question accepted in Parliament, it will definitely have an effect on voting attitudes of 2013. And this is probably why we have a re-emergence of monseigneurial politics showing us fire and brimstone. It seems to many, however, that the overt confessional approval of party leadership of yore is not as welcome as it used to be (in a “I made you I break you” fashion) as one can’t expect to be acclaimed as a pompous and patronising busybody forever.

Recycled questions may reappear in television discussions. Following the defeat of the “simple” referendum question in Parliament and in the country, the same question was used during some TV discussions. Talk of flogging a dead horse!

I was even more surprised to hear of traditional educators, who never shone much, really, jumping into the referendum campaign. Some people never see the pathos in a mirror.

The doves andthe hawks

It is all very exciting to read about star wars and watch films about the flashes, the explosions, the sparks and the destruction of the bad guys in Terminator fashion. The bad guys in Libya have been condemned by almost everyone in Malta – which is a very good thing, though we still have to learn more about the democratic structure of the administrative programme of the good guys.

I have listened to the opinions of various politicians of all colours about the crisis in Libya. Ugo Mifsud Bonnici took a more holistic look at the issue, throwing light on the real reasons for the desired use of Malta by larger countries as a military base. He explained, as I understood at least, that the British were not exactly doing us a big favour when using Malta as a base for military operations during World War II – though some still get excited about the George Cross.

I have heard some hawks say this is not related to present circumstances but I am not so sure. For example, why is an Ivorian monster considered less monstrous than a Libyan one?

Are they not equally unacceptable as leaders in a modern democratic world? Or does campaigning for democracy also involve the identification of minerals underneath?

Meanwhile, an unwanted passenger found himself using a boat intended for humanitarian missions in Libya. The result was that the humanitarian missions were suspended. While the stowaway did wrong, is suspending the mission not an overreaction?

Dr Licari is a researcher in multiculturalism.