Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1201983
As Prime Minister Robert Abela said in his inaugural speech, the country is now – for better or worse – overshadowed by the legacy of Joseph Muscat. What is your own opinion of this legacy, and the influence it exerts over Malta today? I think there are two angles to Joseph Muscat. Undoubtedly, we cannot discard everything Muscat did for the country. That would be unfair, and an injustice to all the good work he has done. Before even mention- ing the economy, one need only look at the inroads he made in civil rights. Thanks to Muscat's input, Malta was even placed on the world map when it comes LGBTIQ rights. One cannot overlook these achievements. Muscat also took other cou- rageous steps: for example, in- creases in pensions, and in the minimum wage. You may ask, were these increases enough? I would say 'no'; because there is obviously still a lot of work to be done to elevate the lower echelons of society as much as possible, so as to ensure a de- cent, dignified qualified of life for everyone. On the other hand, these sec- tors had been stagnating for many years. The economy also received an incremental push forward. It's no secret that Malta was faring much better, economically, than many of its European counterparts. This all surely attests to the intensive work of Joseph Muscat as prime minister. But there was also a need for prompt decisions: especially when the issue of Panamagate arose in 2016. There were polit- ical decisions that needed to be taken; and here, I think that Jo- seph Muscat misjudged the sit- uation. I also believe we could have worked harder to strength- en Malta's institutions. I'm not saying they weren't working at all; but they could have worked much better, in a democracy that needs to be strengthened. And we need to ensure justice is done and seen to be done for the horrific murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. That has left a stain on our country. Democracy is not static; it is something that evolves. Look- ing at our Parliamentary de- mocracy, we must acknowl- edge it is young, compared with those of other countries. So we cannot content ourselves with what used to work well 50 years ago… nor even 20 or 10 years ago. Democracy has to keep growing, and getting stronger. Some of these concerns, how- ever, were also part of what Joseph Muscat had promised to change, before becoming Prime Minister in 2013… But we cannot attribute all the shortcomings only to Joseph Muscat. The culture of polit- ical tribalism has also played a role. When Joseph Muscat be- came prime minister with such an unprecedented majority, I believed he had the perfect op- portunity to be the one who set the trend, and to help defuse this culture through leading by example. But there were un- deniably other elements in the country that helped foment and aggravate the situation; and I believe these elements should also reflect upon their own re- sponsibilities, and put forward their own suggestions on how the country can move forward in this regard. Above all, I believe that civil society needs to be given more space. In a healthy democracy, we should be working towards a situation where our citizens are more active; where there is more engagement and critical thinking. Unfortunately, in our country there still prevails a culture where people hold back from expressing themselves; perhaps for fear of disapproval; or also of being victimised. I think the time has long come for the culture of political trib- alism to come to an end. We've heard a lot of political promis- es in the past: calls for national reconciliation; that we are all 'Maltese brothers and sisters'; slogans such as 'Malta Taghna Lkoll'… however, no sooner does a national discussion get turned into a party-political is- sue, than we all once again re- turn to our divided, entrenched positions. Look at how discussions take place on Facebook: I don't want to suggest that it's everybody in Malta and Gozo – it certainly isn't – but with some people, it's as though we've lost our cul- ture of dialogue. We're not even capable of sitting down and having a reasonable, respectful discussion anymore. We tend to shoot the messenger, instead of concentrating on the message itself. I am an optimist, however; I very much believe we can learn from our recent history. So, I would say that now is a very good time to get together and try to learn from past mistakes. Because it is the entire country – without pointing fingers at any individuals – that needs to learn. This brings to us to where and how the country's institutions need reforming. There have been calls for a 'New Repub- lic': involving a strengthened role for the President. But some also argue that the Pres- As Malta swears in a new Prime Minister, President Emeritus MARIE-LOUISE COLEIRO PRECA argues that the time has come to put the unity of our country before our culture of political tribalism Now is the time to learn from past mistakes Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt 8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 JANUARY 2020 INTERVIEW It's as though we've lost our culture of dialogue. We're not even capable of sitting down and having a reasonable, respectful discussion anymore