Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1519535
10 OPINION maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 24 APRIL 2024 THE threats to democracy in Malta have long been brewing. Attacks on a free press, scape- goating others and delegitimis- ing political opposition were all ways to contribute to a transition back to authoritarianism, if that was the present government's goal. But there are other ways! You can also hasten the decline of democracy by supporting the rapid rise to power of a political amateur. More and more Maltese are becoming eager to see either political outsiders or politi- cians who are ready to put the people ahead of their careers. That sentence should be pret- ty chilling if you think about it. The idea that politicians' ambition is possibly no longer compatible with pursuing good public policy is disturbing and may be at least partially true, but, if so, that is a bug and not a feature of past robust demo- cratic institutions. Imagining a political outsider coming in and curing what ails politics is fun and romantic, and it is not new. On its face, this idea seems very democrat- ic — what could be closer to the ideals of democracy than casting the bastards out and infusing political leadership with new blood, with people who know life outside of the profession of politics? Like many things, this is intuitive but incorrect. Political ama- teurism presents a threat to democracy. Democracy is hard. It is not as simple as picking an elec- tion date and site and counting up the votes. It also requires thinking about how different perspectives and stakehold- ers will be integrated into a system, what to do with the losers of a particular process, and how to balance individ- ual freedom with community concerns. The practice of de- mocracy requires dealing with the reality that disagreement is bound to crop up anytime you get more than one human be- ing in a discussion. Those who know more about politics are more likely to em- brace democratic values like political tolerance. These dif- ferences are, of course, ob- served within the general population, not among people who are interested enough in politics to think about running for office. What we have seen so far from an administration that lacks political experience is an accompanying lack of re- gard for democratic values, es- pecially ones about legitimate opposition and criticism of the government. It is clear that Maltese politics has some issues. Confidence in institutions is low. Economic inequality threatens the basis of the 'Maltese vision'. Our criminal justice system has problems. Our House of Rep- resentatives seems stuck, una- ble to address issues from the environment to the budget. Lots of people feel they do not have much of a political voice. But the impulse to concen- trate a lot of power in the hands of people who do not know what they are doing is not going to improve Maltese democracy. These problems require expertise, an appreci- ation for political nuance and an understanding of the ten- sions inherent in democratic governance. These alone are probably not enough to fix our system. From dentistry to plumbing, midwifery to air traffic control, there are plenty of career paths for which prior specialist train- ing is essential. Being a politi- cian in our national legislature is not one of them. In Malta, the trend towards the profes- sionalisation of politics has been widely viewed as prob- lematic. The rise of the 'career politi- cian' means that increasingly, politicians without a great deal of first-hand experience of the world outside politics are run- ning the country. It is the lack of political professionalism among MPs that may pose the greatest threat to the effective functioning of democracy. There are two principal forms of political amateurism in Mal- tese politics: amateurism with limited experience and ama- teurism with limited tenure. Political amateurism, antony- mous to political professional- ism, can be understood both in terms of an MP's career before getting elected and after enter- ing parliament. Ambition is surely a driving force behind any political ca- reer. Politics thrives on the hope of favour and the drive for office. In our case, howev- er, there may be little incentive for an individual to channel his or her political ambition into the development of pre-par- liamentary political experi- ence. For example, the most ambitious and intentional of political professionals could rationally seek accelerated ad- vancement by, for example, working as a political research- er for a parliamentarian before standing for office themselves. Within parliament, the appar- ent lack of meritocracy in pro- motions is plain to see. Cabinet promotions are a function of the representative imperative, or, in other words, an MP's so- cio-geographical characteris- tics are more important deter- minants of promotion than any political experience or qualifi- cations potentially suited to a given portfolio. Prime ministe- rial appointments convention- ally give strong consideration to regional representation. All too many of the bad headlines and public relations Regrettably amateurish Mark Said is a veteran lawyer Mark Said More and more Maltese are becoming eager to see either political outsiders or politicians who are ready to put the people ahead of their careers