It is unprecedented for a Maltese head of state to address the nation at the very moment when polls close. It was courageous of President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca to do so on Saturday. She was reflecting what many of us had been feeling from even before the election was announced on May 1.

This election has strengthened the deep political rift that exists in these islands and taken it to a level that many of us had hoped belonged to the past. In plain language, it has, once again, become virtually impossible to have a decent conversation on anything to do with politics with the leaders of the two main parties in particular being depicted as the personification of evil by the opposing side. Hence, the President’s appeal for reconciliation was well timed and will, hopefully, not fall on deaf ears.

I still remember Eddie Fenech Adami, following the Nationalist Party electoral victory of 1987, go on about the need for national reconciliation. To be honest, although no way near to pre-1987 levels, political division always seems to have remained part of the character of Maltese society. Let’s not forget that in Malta we like to argue passionately about anything and everything.

I have experienced at first hand the rivalry between two band clubs in the same locality on what are meant to be religious festivities. It’s ugly. Some would say that it is in our DNA as southern Europeans. I don’t accept that. All human beings are born untainted and uncontaminated; certain traits are surely the result of conditioning by the culture in which a person is brought up.

On Monday, shortly after taking the oath of office for his second term as Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat reiterated what he had stated a day earlier when speaking just after the result of the general election was announced – that his first priority is now that of reuniting the country.

He has been emphasising the need to regain national unity using the expression “We are all Malta”.

During this campaign, if there was one thing common to both sides, it was this contest by both to try to appear more ‘Maltese’ than the other. It was strange how, whereas in so many previous elections the focus was more European, this time the appeal was directed towards national sentiment. This made me think about what really makes up our identity. What does it mean to be Maltese and could our national identity be the starting point for a true process of healing and reconciliation?

Before we start discussing how to amend and modernise our Constitution, we need to engage in some soul-searching regarding our identity. The Constitution is our fundamental law – a contract that binds us together as one nation. It guarantees our fundamental rights and liberties and lays down the basic rules for the governance of this nation and its people.

Hence, there is a pressing need for the Constitution to better reflect who we are. In its present format, our Constitution remains that moulded 53 years ago despite the various amendments since Independence in 1964. These amendments have been mostly the result of political compromise by the two main political parties in response to situations that needed to be addressed such as the transformation from a constitutional monarchy to a Republic in 1974 and the guarantee that a party obtaining a majority of votes in an election would also have a majority of seats in the House of Representatives following the perverse electoral result in 1981.

Any constitutional reform needs to be wider than that and involve not only the parties represented in the Parliament but also other political forces, civil society, academics, the Church and other religious denominations in these islands. The widest spectrum of society should be represented in some form of constitutional convention that would need to deliberate on various aspects that would lead to a charter that truly reflects our identity and aspirations.

Should the result be an entire overhaul of the Constitution, apart from the fact that to amend certain provisions of the Constitution a popular vote is mandated, true legitimacy could only come through a referendum in which, hopefully, the two main parties would, for the first time in Independent Malta, campaign on the same side.

I could mention quite a few things that need addressing such as the system of government itself. Does our parliamentary democracy, based on the Westminster model, still suit our purposes? In the United Kingdom, a prime minister may choose her ministers from among the members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Until yesterday, that stood at 330 in the Commons and 253 in the House of Lords.

When forming his Cabinet, our Prime Minister has (excluding himself) 36individuals from whom to choose (even less when considering that seven candidates in his parliamentary group were elected in two districts). Moreover, since most would seek re-election at a subsequent election, ministers and parliamentary secretaries cannot just focus on government. I believe that it is time to consider other models that would guarantee that the government would remain answerable to Parliament, yet fully concentrated on governing, while allowing members of parliament to concentrate entirely on their work of scrutiny of the government of the day as well as legislating in the name of the people.

Another issue is that of the symbols of nationhood. The Constitution presently defines the national flag, the national anthem, the national language and the religion of Malta. Missing is the national day. We are in this ridiculous situation of having five national holidays for the sake of keeping everyone happy. The PL has its day and the PN also has its own.

The time has come for us to agree on one national day, retaining the other four as national feasts, celebrating all five as one nation. This should also be something to be discussed by the constitutional convention rather than simply agreed to by the political parties. I also suggest that both main political parties immediately stop organising their own activities on Independence Day and Freedom Day. These days can never become truly national when the Nationalist Party continues to claim Independence as its achievement and likewise, the Labour Party where Freedom Day is concerned.

National reconciliation and reuniting our people must become the first priority not only for the new administration but also for our newly elected House of Representatives. As the President stated, the party leaders are expected to take the first steps towards a return to dialogue that is built on facts and on mutual respect. However, regaining some form of unity also requires that our Constitution guarantees that the people exercise their sovereignty not only once every five years but during the entire course of the legislature.