I have been actively involved in politics for many years now and cannot but feel greatly disappointed at the low level we have reached here in Malta with the passage of time. Admittedly, we have known darker days in the past, when confrontational politics based on the threat of violence ruined the daily life of all Maltese. Yet, today, although political stability is assured, we are faced with a new, sometimes latent, threat: the loss of values in political life.

Let me start with a concept that is dominant today in Maltese politics. This is the idea that one has to win at all costs. Now it might seem obvious that political parties and politicians should strive to be successful, but what we are seeing today is a cold, calculating effort by politicians to achieve victory even at the cost of sacrificing ideology, devaluing loyalty, going against one’s own principles, measuring people only by their political utility and discarding moral values when these become a hindrance to achieving the final victory.

Thankfully, what I am saying does not apply to all Maltese politicians, but, unfortunately, it does apply to a worrying number of them.

Let me give some specific examples to sustain my argument. Take the way people are measured and valued by several politicians. It is a fact that we have come to a point where the value of a person is no longer measured by his competence and integrity but by his political utility. How will his actions affect the final political outcome? Will bringing him over to my side win me more votes even if he lacks any moral backbone and is obviously an opportunist?

This is the yardstick by which people are now measured. Some persons have ‘nuisance value’. A certain person can be politically inconvenient and cause serious annoyance. How can such a person be silenced? Offer him a very well-paid job so that your political interest now also becomes his own. Simple, isn’t it?

Maltese politics has become, toa certain extent, valueless politics. We need to rediscover values in politics

This brings me to the distasteful subject of political turncoats. What has happened to the concept of loyalty?  I find it incredible that we hear on a regular basis of people who were once actively engaged on the side of a particular political party and then, just because of a disagreement, leave the party and join the opposing one.

To add insult to injury, they are very often treated with kid gloves by the political party they join and are even given prominence at public meetings. I find it disgusting to listen to somebody saying the exact opposite of what he said only a few months before or praising a political leader who, only a little while before, he was openly denigrating.

Political parties also have to remember what they stand for, their political ideology and principles. We cannot have ideology and principles twisted around like chewing gum. It has come to a point where particular interest groups with great political clout determine a political party’s agenda. Is this right? No, it is not! Indeed, it is inherently wrong.

To give a concrete example, the interests of big business should never prevail over the interests of the ordinary citizen.

To win a general election today, political parties have to be ‘pro-business’. However, we need to redefine what this means. Pro-business means making it as easy as possible for businessmen to operate, such as eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy and incentivising investment. It does not mean politicians kowtowing to business interests.

I also cannot refrain from mentioning another controversial issue: the idea that one can aim for public office and becoming rich at the same time. I wonder what an epitome of moral rectitude like Paul Boffa would have thought of this. Whatever happened to the idea of politics as public service?

 It is more than obvious that when your primary aim as a politician is to attain high public office and become rich at the same time, you are bound to start from day one with a conflict of interest. Furthermore, if your pecuniary interests occupy a prime place on your personal agenda, how are you going to resist the many temptations to use your power to further such interests?

I have just mentioned a few examples of how Maltese politics has become, to a certain extent, valueless politics. We need to rediscover values in politics. The country’s hope is those politicians who are a shining beacon of what a politician should be like: a person at the service of the people, a person whose actions are guided by moral principles, a person who is loyal and respects all people, not just those whose political utility can serve his own interests.

Let us always remember that the objective of politics is the common good.

Desmond Zammit Marmarà is a Balzan Labour councillor.