It made strolling the Valletta streets a pleasurable experience. Political and religious leaders preferred to walk from one venue to another while they exchanged the traditional new year greetings. It has also become customary for state or Church dignitaries to use the occasion to address the public at large about issues they deem have a certain importance.
The Chief Justice correctly read the mood of the nation and addressed it elegantly- Fr Joe Borg
This year Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri stole the limelight. His words on the occasion made the front page story both in The Times and The Malta Independent. The photo of the Archbishop and the Chief Justice on the front page of The Times said it all. It showed a worried Chief Justice and a consoling Archbishop sitting on a sofa at the Archbishop’s Palace in Valletta. In turn the consoler became the worrier!
The drama involving the criminal proceedings against former judge Ray Pace and the impeachment motion against Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco worries the Chief Justice. The imprisonment of two former religious priests worries the Archbishop.
The Chief Justice correctly read the mood of the nation and addressed it elegantly. He very wisely and prudently decided to treat the exchange of New Year greetings almost as if it was an Ash Wednesday ritual . He put on ashes though he wore no sackcloth.
His attitude won him respect (though he already enjoys plenty of it) and admiration. His words were in the right pitch and in the most appropriate tone.
Chief Justice Camilleri admitted that the judiciary is no longer a symbol of unity and that the whole institution is undermined by a credibility crisis. He did not go so far as to openly say that the crisis was brought on by members of the judiciary. But he said “in a sombre tone”, according to The Times, that a “number of allegations” were made at the end of the year that tarnished the reputation of the judiciary.
People’s trust in the judiciary was never very high. What remained of that trust has now been thrown overboard. A member of the judiciary told me that ever since the Pace case, he feels like a “pulċinell” in his courtroom. Chief Justice Camilleri was right on target when he said that the members of the judiciary now have to earn people’s trust and that they have to work to convince people of their integrity.
The Chief Justice’s speech and President George Abela’s vote of confidence in the judiciary can help, but they will not, on their own, heal the festering wound of lack of trust. Much more must be done; and unfortunately it is not being done.
Besides exhorting the judiciary to practise the highest level of ethical behaviour, President Abela strongly urged politicians to give greater importance to civil society. As Robert D. Putnam noted, civil society is vital for democracy. It helps build social capital, trust and shared values. Civil society has become a vibrant dimension of Maltese society. It is a force to reckon with and could provide a useful counter-balance to political parties, which unfortunately are today demonised by many, notwithstanding their essential role for the growth of a healthy democracy.
An example of how valuable a contribution can be given by civil society is the Malta Council of Economic and Social Development. Its role can, and should be strengthened. Let me give some examples:
Board of directors of government- owned companies are chosen, as it should be, by the respective government ministers. Would not the choice become more representative if ministers bind themselves to nominate the majority of board members from a list submitted by the MCESD?
A constitutional authority which cries for the contribution of civil society is the Broadcasting Authority. It is essential that the stranglehold of political parties on this authority is broken.
I am not in favour of civil society substituting political parties or elected politicians. As both Pawel Zaleski and John Agnew have noted, leaders of civil society have acquired a significant amount of political power, many times, without anyone (or very few people) directly electing or appointing them.
This power is many times given by the media, undoubtedly an essential sector of democratic society but one that is only indirectly and almost tenuously answerable to the people. A healthy balance of power in modern society goes much further than the balance between the executive, the legislative and the judiciary.
Let me make just one passing remark on the President’s reference to people living at risk of poverty. I have no doubt that Abela used the term correctly and that, as he said, the number is too high. But I equally have no doubt that the term is generally used very loosely and quite often misunderstood. The Eurostat website clearly states that “this indicator does not measure wealth or poverty, but low income in comparison to other residents in that country, which does not necessarily imply a low standard of living”.
The third personality I refer to is Archbishop Paul Cremona and a quote attributed to him: “We are here to help our politicians, not to interfere. The Church is not interested in imposing its views on anyone.” The fact that the Archbishop felt the need to say this statement for the umpteenth time is a sign of the significant change in the role of the Church in our society.
Many are trying to marginalise it no longer to the proverbial sacristy, as was fashionable years back, but to the social and charitable sector besides the religious sphere. This is a pressure the Church should resist.
In a pluralistic society the rights of free speech and advocacy belong to the ecclesiastical goose as much as they appertain to the secular gander. (I discussed this in one of my recent blogs on timesofmalta.com – ‘Is Pope Benedict a homophobe?’)
One hopes that these proclamations by the big and the powerful will not suffer the same fate as the resolutions made at the beginning of the year by most of the population, which generally last, as the saying goes, for as long as a long day in January.
joseph.borg@um.edu.mt