Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1197486
10 LOOKING FORWARD DID we ever really care about the republic? Let alone want to fix it? We find ourselves nursing a nationless state with a neo-lib- eral hangover, fearful of a tank- ing economy, the loss of jobs in 2020 and the disdain of the international community. Yet – at a historic moment when populism has rooted elsewhere, when liars in public office thrive, win elections, call truth 'fake news', pur- posely erode trust in experts and public institutions, and unashamedly rule for the benefit of the few – is our republic that much out of sync with the workings of the global post-truth society? If we wish to temporarily entertain the idea that we need a system to fix our re- public before our politicians get us into a bigger fix, I can only cling to the no- tion of radical reform to our education system. You've heard it before – some variant of the Finnish system, without exams, with critical thinking and media literacy included as a compo- nent of all compulsory subjects, starting from primary school. Will parents and teacher un- ions, themselves the product of a punitive, one-size-fits-all system, support change? Will it happen in my lifetime? I don't think so. I regularly ask my first-year new me- dia students at University if they are in- terested in politics and about 2% raise their hands. I ask if they are jaded, if our relationship with systems of power is inexorably tied to the cult of the leader and patronage via the tools of hegemony and clientelism. They blink, since they assume that a new media class is about digital marketing and the holy grail of becoming a 'social media influencer' and little to do with asking questions about society, culture, meaning and power. We have spent years making sure that discourse about the political is banned from the classroom, with the exception of the teachings of the Church. Why should we be surprised if young people remain fearful of challenging the right of others to lead them, or the right of their parents to bequeath them a parti- san legacy? Stop demolishing your grandmother's house in the village. Stop converting it into ugly flats. Stop back-building into her garden. Start the process for consti- tutional change which ensures that our voting system is truly proportional, as opposed to simply favouring the two-party system. Then start ask- ing why new media literacy is not part of the curriculum. How's that for a sudden fix for the moribund republic? Dr Alex Grech lectures at the Department of Media and Com- munications, University of Malta THE country needs a war against the mafia and the rent-seeking elite which have captured the country and also robbed us of the Labour Party in broad daylight while we were distracted doing something else. Malta has a history of parasitic local magnates and rent-seeking elite. Most of the economic develop- ment which took place in the island has taken place thanks to foreign direct investment and foreign capital. Most of the local magnates act like parasites who are not even net-contributors to our economy. We have to begin cleaning up the local corrupt rent-seeking elite, but we also need to dump all the Labour Party officials and ministers who still have strong ties with these rent-seeking elites. Simultaneously, we also need to restructure the economy by retaining and increasing the inflow of foreign direct investment and foreign capital, but also ensure that abuses and rent-seeking are purged from the economy. We need to bring back impor- tant principles of social justice in the economic re- structuring process – we need to build affordable housing and raise the minimum wage. We, the left in Labour, believe Chris Fearne will deliver, but we will rebel again if he lets us down. Mark Camilleri is executive chairman of the National Book Council and a Labour Party member maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 JANUARY 2020 20 20 Kurt Sansone's list is the only one you may want to refer back to at the end of the year 20 things to look out for in the new year 1. New prime minister The Labour Party elects its new leader on 11 January. The choice is between Chris Fearne and Robert Abela, who have billed themselves as the change candidate and the continuity candidate, respectively. The new leader will become Malta's next prime minister, ending Joseph Muscat's six years at the helm. This will be the first time that the new leader will be elected by the PL's members. 2. Yorgen Fenech's compilation The compilation of evidence against alleged mastermind Yorgen Fenech in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder will continue and is likely to drag on. The prosecution will want to tie up any loose ends by presenting all the evidence at hand. But we can expect legal contestations by the accused to continue in the constitutional court. 3. Caruana Galizia murder trial The compilation of evidence against three men accused of murdering Daphne Caruana Galizia was briefly re-opened last month to include the testimony of pardoned middleman Melvin Theuma. In 2020, George Degiorgio, Alfred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat could expect to stand trial, where they face a possible life sentence. How to fix the How to fix the Cl ie n t elis m F r i e n ds o f i e n d s Co r r u p ti o n P a n a m a P ap r K eit h S ch e m b i Alex Grech Mark Camilleri Muscat's bid to create a 'second republic' had long been dead in the water before his premiership crumbled under the weight of the Daphne Caruana Galizia assassination probe. We asked thinkers and opinion- makers how to fix the pieces of the broken Maltese republic...