Hopefully, the time for pantomime is over. Political parties now focus on the major event that has been in the news for more than a year. Besides uncertainty, this has caused political fatigue and the carnival period midway through the election campaign may provide some welcome fun and entertainment.

Still, this should not detract attention from the importance of the general election.

Political parties and, more so, civil society have been clamouring for “a change in the way of doing politics”. This should not be a cliché’ but a real effort by all concerned to ensure that the democratic process takes its course in a calm and intelligent manner so that we will have the political class of operators that a modern country deserves. This election campaign provides a unique opportunity to political parties and citizens to start effectively the process leading to the desired change in the way we do politics.

We shall be hearing a lot of political-speak and oratorical jargon that are all part of the game. However, confrontation, antagonism and fanatical arguments at the grocer or the band or football club certainly do not contribute towards a new way of doing politics. We should stop referring to oneself as coming from a “Labour” or “Nationalist” family as if inherited political affiliation is a valuable distinction.

Statistics and percentages, frequent references to GDP and ranking comparisons with other EU member States are the order of the day. The so-called ‘certificates’, culled selectively from reports by international institutions, will be mentioned repeatedly. These may have significance to academics and technocrats but are of little or no concern to citizens at large.

Quibbling on historical facts and figures contributes little to society’s main concern and overriding objective, that is, a continuous improvement in the quality of life by raising standards and managing better for administrative effectiveness.

Citizens want better functioning institutions and efficient delivery of services by government departments and public agencies. We do not only use public services, we also pay for them, either directly or through taxes. The citizen is entitled to expect that these services are the best that money can buy.

Substantial amounts of public money have been spent to improve public services that affect our quality of life. Some results have been achieved but we could have done better and achieved much more. Why are citizens compelled to resort to someone who can throw his weight around and pull strings to obtain what they are entitled to?

Dealing with public services should not be a tale of petty frustrations. We should aim at improving public services and give transport passengers, patients and parents the service they need and deserve.

Governments seem to be good at dreaming up grandiose projects irrespective of priorities and the projects’ contribution to the citizens’ quality of life but tend to give insufficient attention to the delivery of good quality services.

Malta has practically all the laws, regulations, institutions, commissions and regulators found in modern democratic countries. Without constant monitoring, scrutiny, vigilance, proper auditing, proactive initiatives and enforcement and accountability, these mechanisms are as good as if they do not exist.

The disposition of political parties during this campaign should be to listen to what people want and commit themselves to challenge outmoded systems and administrative practices. They should show that they are prepared to expose incompetence and shoddy services in order to correct and improve them. The citizen should be unequivocally promised to be given truthful information, power, choice and clear rights and entitlements.

Small businessmen, the backbone of the economy, still spend a good part of their time dealing with government requirements or incur expenses to engage ‘knowledgeable’ persons to deal on their behalf. Small firms and the self-employed cannot afford to engage advisers to cope with bureaucratic demands.

Businessmen should be given the freedom and opportunities to create wealth. An effort should be made to minimise the burden on business of European Commission directives that should be translated into plain rules everyone can understand. We should not be ‘holier than the Pope’ by applying directives with haste to claim that we rank high in compliance.

Political parties and candidates are expected to treat the electorate with respect by explaining their strategy, acknowledge what is right and on which we can build further and point out what needs to be changed to raise standards and improve the quality of life.

Gimmicks and dirty tricks have no place in a country that prides itself on its own values, culture and traditions. We have reached what is referred to as the ‘high mass consumption’ stage in our national development. This requires political action to focus on raising standards to lead to better service delivery and continuous improvement in the quality of life.

It should be understood by all that an improvement of services is not necessarily achieved by extra money. It should be the outcome of creativity, innovation, greater efficiency and an open mind. Along with important reforms of economic and social nature, this is what should be discussed by political exponents if we genuinely want to change the way of doing politics.

While acknowledging the professionalism and dedication of the vast majority of public service workers, introducing creativity and innovation can only benefit one and all.

Chris Fearne is a Labour electoral candidate.