When the Prime Minister called a snap election it was hoped that the majority of people would use their vote to send a clear message that there was no place for corruption in our society. Individuals not affiliated to the Nationalist Party stood up to be counted.
That was why Forza Nazzjonali was formed. Surely one expected that the public outcry against corruption would have an impact on the outcome of the election. But to everyone’s surprise, nothing seems to have changed since the result of this election was very similar to the one of 2013.
But I would assert that something drastically changed. Though the result was similar, the election was held under different circumstances. Joseph Muscat in 2013 was elected on a platform of meritocracy and transparency. In 2017, Dr Muscat’s government was engulfed in corruption allegations and all he stood for in 2013 vanished in thin air during his past legislature.
So how is it that the Labour Party still came out with flying colours? This is the golden question that we need to answer. What say had the silent majority in this election? What made them not reveal their intentions? There can be only one conclusion. The silent majority already knew where their vote would go but they wouldn’t dare reveal their intention in public because they felt embarrassed voting for a corrupt government.
Though they felt that what was going on was wrong they still opted to vote for their own selfish interests rather than for the common good. The economic and personal gain that they were enjoying at this point in time couldn’t be sacrificed for the good of society at large. The immediate good was too tempting to let it go, even though they knew that this would result in great losses in the distant future. ‘Let’s live for today, who cares about tomorrow’ was their reasoning.
However much we try to find a scapegoat and blame Simon Busuttil or the party structures, the reality is that it is the people who chose to sanction corruption. Our society has to be blamed. The majority of us, citizens, are amoral, selfish and don’t give a damn as to the means to achieve one’s end. For many, the end justifies the means.
The only way forward is not to change party structures or people at the helm, though these might help, but to educate people and convince one and all that in the long run a corrupt society will crumble and bring us all down with it. What the minority voted for still stands and no amount of majority may rub off the one single, absolute truth, namely that corruption is wrong.
Let all those of us, though a minority, who voted for corruption to be eradicated, feel proud that we form part of this minority and let us continue harping that corruption is unacceptable at all costs in our democratic society.