The die is cast. We are in election mode. On June 3 we are being asked to decide the way forward for Malta. As happens in every election campaign one party tries to outsmart the other. We are promised heaven on earth for some belief that the end justifies the means and what is important at an election campaign is that one is elected at all costs.

But what is at stake? Who is going to govern us? Is the innocent going to be protected and the guilty charged? Political leaders come and go but what about our institutions that are there to safeguard the rule of law and make everyone accountable? We are fast losing trust in our institutions because rather than being seen to be accountable they are acting slowly or not at all.

In a very informative article entitled ‘An Election For Us All’, in the Times of Malta (November 3) last year, Ranier Fsadni explains how in the election campaign, Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump would have exceeded their limits and been ‘much deadlier enemies’ without the checks and balances that exist in the US. Fsadni laments that here in Malta, rather than focusing and giving importance to the autonomous institutions that should act as our watchdogs, we seem to shift responsibility to a political leader or party.

“Fixing the system, the checks and balances, should take precedence over the search for the personal saviour, the charismatic politician,” Fsadni contends. He goes on to assert that “more mature democracies focus on strong institutions and watchdogs, giving these institutions all the prestige and backing by the media that they need. It is the laws and the system that make gross abuse costly,” Fsadni concludes.

Our preoccupation and worry, at this point in time, should not be parties’ manifestoes and promises, however important these are.

Let us elect that party and those candidates who, rather than promoting their own agenda, look at the common good and make sure that the rule of law is being followed and our institutions and regulatory bodies are autonomous watchdogs.