It was reported online (May 2) that vlogger Nas Daily had made a bitter comment about partisanship in Malta. In a Facebook post he lamented: “The sad truth is that in Malta your politics came before your humanity.”

This is quite a forceful statement that says much about us as a people. Last October, Revel Barker, an opinionist, commented in this paper that “in Malta, the majority of people don’t have opinions, they have parties”.

It is high time that we face the truth as is and try to do something about it if we really want to improve our image.

The fact that former Labour minister George Vella, who until last June was a prominent figure in Joseph Muscat’s Cabi­net, strongly criticised the IVF Bill which is being put forward by his government shows that there are still individuals who, for the good of society as a whole, are able to rise above partisan politics.

It is a fact that here in Malta, partisan politics is rife and one cannot think straight. The reason many of us are not morally engaged in expressing ourselves on anything under the sun is one is immediately labelled red or blue. The party system, which is supposed to be a means to an end, has become for many of us an end in itself. Parties, with their own TV and radio stations, newspapers and social media, are manipulating facts in such a way that one is barely able to distinguish between fact and fiction. We, as citizens, have to take our own responsibilities and not hide behind parties.

Let us free ourselves from this partisan politics malady that is devouring and blurring our objective way of looking at things

This is what is happening in our society. We want to be given orders and instructions rather than give them ourselves. We want to listen to what the party has to say before we initiate our own thinking and reflection. Each of us has a mind to think and a conscience which, if well formed, can dictate what is right and what is not in order. We cannot, though, shove our consciences onto others and let them decide for us. This applies as well to MPs.

All Members of Parliament have to realise that their responsibilities, especially when dealing with moral and ethi­cal issues like the IVF Bill, have to be taken individually and not as a party. The common good and the dignity of the human person should always take precedence over any other individual or partisan interests. This sacrosanct principle comes before their constituents, their party and themselves.

It was heartening to hear that the Leader of the Opposition, Adrian Delia, is going to give his MPs a free vote when the IVF Bill is presented for approval in Parliament. All of us citizens should have a free vote in all that happens around us. We have a right to speak out, freely and without any strings being pulled, without any hidden agenda or hidden voice dictating what we have to say.

If there is one lesson that all of us Maltese, of whatever status or colour, can learn from the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, is her free spirit, her free thinking, her unfettered way of expressing all that she deemed fit for the good of society as a whole. Unfortunately, we seem to lack free, independent thinkers on this island.

Let us free ourselves from this partisan politics malady that is devouring and blurring our objective way of looking at things. Let all who have some sort of authority, even in the respective parties, allow themselves to be criticised and let there be more sharing of opinion. 

Let’s hope that now that Malta’s 16-year-olds have been given the right to vote they will not be manipulated to suit the needs of the respective parties. Unless one is free and unfettered from partisan poli­tics one cannot be morally engaged when it comes to formulating policies that affect the good of society as a whole.

We should not allow ourselves to be passive bystanders, waiting for others to decide for us. Daphne fought alone but she will remain an inspiration to us all. Let us break the party taboo and be ready to stand up for what is right, even if we have to go against our own party. Let parties encourage individual thinkers within their ranks, thinkers without blinkers who are able to look at the whole picture.

People like Edwin Vassallo, Marlene Farrugia and Godfrey Farrugia are not traitors but heroes, for when the occasion came they were able to rise above their own individual interests and partisan politics and seek the common good.

And this, yes, at a risk.