Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1465732
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 APRIL 2022 8 INTERVIEW Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt All about Eve... To quote my colleague James Debono: "By placing [Climate Change] in the hands of a po- litical newbie, [Bernard] Grech is either showing great trust in the power of youth, or is under- estimating the importance of such a complicated issue". Let's start with 'the power of youth' part. In this election, younger candidates certainly performed better, on the whole, than their older counterparts. How do you interpret that, yourself? Are people simply tired of old faces? Or is it because younger candidates really do have more to offer? First of all: I don't think that young people get elected, sim- ply because 'they are young'. When it came to this election, in particular: there were many young candidates who got elect- ed, yes… and some of it may be because people associate youth with 'innovative ideas'. But from my own experience, I can tell you that it's also be- cause… they worked really hard! Which is not to say that older candidates didn't… or that the veterans of politics, no longer have anything to offer. But I don't think it's simply a case that people voted for young candi- dates, just because of their age. After all, if you want people to vote for you, you have to work hard for their trust. You have to reach out to them… meet them… speak to them, and so on. That is, in fact, what my own campaign represented. I very much believe in 'street politics' - 'il-politika tat-triq', for lack of a better expression – and that is why I set up an open-air office, on the Sliema Front… when I realised that I didn't have the re- sources for an actual office! But what I think we should all be after, is ultimately a balance. Because at the end of the day, we are a representative democracy. We have to represent every- one, from every age-group. So if 16-years-olds could vote in this election… I want to represent them, as well. Could there be slightly more to it than that, though? At the risk of quoting your harshest critic: Mark Camilleri argues that there is also a tendency, here, to 'trivialise' politics… as evidenced by comments like: 'Kemm hu/hi orrajt!'; 'Tuh/a cans, miskin/a', etc. Doesn't he have a point, that your own appointment – an 18-year-old, entrusted with such an impor- tant portfolio – seems to arise from the same trivialisation of politics? If there is one thing I learnt from the election, it's that peo- ple want politicians who listen. On any issue. They don't want politicians who get on their high horse; or who remain stuck in a gilded office; or who make shady backroom deals, and so on. They want politicians to be on the ground, and to speak to them. So ultimately, people elect those who they feel can repre- sent them. So if I have been en- trusted with responsibility for Climate Change, I feel that my responsibility is to listen to the stakeholders, and the experts in the field… and to represent their ideas, and turn them into poli- cies. Now: if I do a bad job of that, I have no doubt that I wouldn't get entrusted with the same faith, at the next election. That is, after all, how it works… But on the subject of criticism: yes, fair enough. I do realise that I am open to scrutiny. I am, at the end of the day, a Member of Parliament. But when it comes to certain comments… let me put it this way: I have been re- ceiving death threats since I was 16 – there was even a 'coffin', with my face on it, during the Labour carcades - and I got quite a few nasty comments even be- fore that, as an activist. So, fortunately or unfortunate- ly, I'm used to criticism by now. I'm also lucky enough to have a strong support system. And if the criticism is fair, or legit- imate, I will certainly listen to it. But I'm not at all sure about grown men, writing fantasies or speculations about my private sex-life… Well, now that you've brought it up yourself: I can't help but note that – for an 18-year-old political newbie – some of the criticism has indeed been somewhat… 'disproportion- ate'. How much of this do you think is simply because you are not just young, but also female? I have no doubt that there still is a lot of misogyny, in our very Mediterranean society. And it might be one of the reasons why people feel so entitled to tear every piece of me apart. But like I said earlier, I'd un- derstand a lot more if the criti- cism was directed at anything I actually did, or said, myself. The reality, however, is that I haven't done anything yet – either as an MP, or as spokesperson for Climate Change – even for the simple reason that Parliament hasn't even re-opened after the recess. So it's clear, to me, that what I'm really being targeted for is not 'what I do', but 'who I am'. And I can't really answer that sort of criticism… Granted; but that's only true of the more outrageous com- ments. Let's face it: you were certainly very outspoken as an activist (and even now, as an MP). In fact, you were most re- cently compared – somewhat ironically, perhaps – to Jason Azzopardi. How to respond to that, first of all? In terms of 'being compared to Jason Azzopardi', all I have to say is: I have every respect for Ja- son Azzopardi, because he is one of the ones who stood up to be counted. At the same time, how- ever… …I am not a 'new Jason'. I'm At just 18 years of age, newly elected MP EVE BORG BONELLO is by far the youngest Parliamentarian in Maltese political history. She has also been entrusted with one of the most problematic shadow portfolios on offer: Climate Change. So will 'being Eve' – as she herself puts it – be enough, for her to rise to the challenge?