Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1127413
OPINION 26 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 JUNE 2019 Once upon a time, 15 years ago... DEEP in some dusty cabinet in Pietà there is a report that was written 15 years ago. It was a report which analysed the reasons why the Nationa- list Party lost the 2004 elec- tion for the European Parlia- ment. It was not a report that found a lot of support. The blunt realities that came out of it spoke of a party which was led by the few, where power had gone to the heads of people in high positions and of a party which was cut off from the daily struggles of everyday Maltese life. It spoke of how the party, after taking Malta into the European Union, had no soul left. There was no longer a bigger cause to group peo- ple. Local politics no longer centred on the question of whether Malta should join the EU or not, it was back to the bread and butter issues of the Maltese. And there, the PN had no credibility and a lot of 'know-it-all'-ism. The report stated that the biggest chunk of voters that had deserted them were mid- dle-class voters, and they were mostly running away from the party because of an elitist and powerful core which looked down on people. A report today would probably have very similar undertones, and this counts both for the 2017 election and today, under the leadership of Adrian Delia. This week the Prime Minis- ter said that those that can't lead a party cannot lead a country and it is very true. Remembering the Sette Giugno Each country has a story to tell. As Europe celebrates D-Day and the heroics of those men and women who sacrificed all they had, us Maltese have our own story of self-sacrifice for the greater good. Our history is filled with patriotic Maltese men and women who fought the good fight. Some made it to tell the tale, others didn't. The Sette Giugno was the first step towards a modern Malta, free from other na- tions' empires and able to guide itself. Our road to independence and eventual Republic was a hard one, and when you look at the other countries who started that road with us, and see the bloodshed that was poured, you realise how, despite all our shortcomings, we are a nation that works together for a better future. Democracy is only as strong as the strength and will of the people in a society. When political discourse is about degrading, when Parliament becomes nothing more than cheap theatre and when poli- tics becomes personal and not about policies, we fall short on the sacrifices that so many others before us made. We should not be compla- cent about our democracy. We should cultivate it, make sure there's fair representation and create a political process where capable people are enticed by it, and not rebuffed. This is per- haps one of the main shortcom- ings of Maltese politics today. Too many good people say that they're not interested because of how toxic it all is. It's not one party or the other which loses these people, but the country. The Sette Giugno was the first step towards a modern Malta, free from other nations' empires and able to guide itself Evarist Bartolo Evarist Bartolo is Minister for Education and Employment Our history is filled with patriotic Maltese men and women who fought the good fight. Some made it to tell the tale, others didn't