When Italian comedian Roberto Benigni appeared on Rai TV five years ago to speak about what many would consider a boring, legal topic he attracted an audience of almost 13 million. La piu bella del mondo (the most beautiful in the world) was the title he chose for his show/lecture on the Italian Constitution.

As he did two years later when he spoke about the Ten Commandments, Mr Benigni mesmerised his audience not only because of his showmanship but because of the way he managed to deal with such a usually heavy topic in a light manner and that all could follow.

Unfortunately, this country is not blessed with such a master of the spoken word so talk about the Constitution will not attract the ‘populace’. The debate is likely to be restricted to the usual circle of exponents who, bar a few, like former European Court of Human Rights judge Giovanni Bonello, are pedantic in their delivery and, thus, unlikely to contribute to a popular discussion on the Constitution.

Speaking on a radio chat show a few days ago, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he would not exclude calling a referendum so the government could “radically” change the Constitution. He even spoke of “a totally new Constitution or one with many new elements”.

Now that is quite a handful.

Is Dr Muscat thinking of asking the people whether they agree the Constitution should be changed? If they say yes in a referendum, would the political parties then engage in their usual tit-for-tat talks and come up with a package of changes that some or many people may not agree with?

Or will some sort of constitutional conference – no doubt, ‘influenced’ by the parties from the wings – come up with some sort of resolution on which the amendments will be based? Will it be followed by a referendum on every proposed change or one on the whole package? And, if the latter option is the case, what should the people do if, say, they agree with eight of 10 proposed changes and have serious reservations about the other two?

If the Constitution is to be the people’s most beautiful expression – hopefully, Mr Benigni will allow us a degree of plagiarism – they must “get to learn it, if not love it”, to quote Dr Bonello.

In an article on The Sunday Times of Malta earlier this year, Dr Bonello, who specialises in human rights, made a very sombre assessment of the way our 50-year-old Constitution was treated: “There have, time after time, been crass misunderstandings of its very basic concepts. It has often had its true values hollowed out, it has been demeaned, it has been rendered powerless, mostly by the very courts which the makers of the Constitution appointed to be its trustees. It was meant to be a powerful instrument for democracy, to promote transparency, good governance and the rule of human rights law. All in all, they have been quite successful in defanging the watchdog.”

It can be argued that the Constitution can still serve, provided those responsible in making it work do their duty and that its guardian – the President – ensures the people’s most beautiful expression does not become the most derided legal instrument.

If only Mr Benigni could moderate the debate.

This is a Times of Malta print editorial