Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/294639
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 APRIL 2014 26 Letters Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. It was refreshing to hear Lawrence Gonzi say he intended to discuss the reform of the electoral system and party financing with the Opposition. It has become more than evident that the current electoral system risks leaving a significant number of persons unrepresented in Parliament. The finances of the parties have been clouded in suspicion and mistrust for far too long. If reform is achieved on both these issues, it will give substance to the Prime Minister's political mantra of wanting to do politics differently. Such reforms, if carried out, will certainly shake the political system as practiced to date and serve as a quality upgrade to our democracy. The electoral system is in dire need of reform, for although based on the proportional representation system, it leaves open the possibility of many a vote not being represented and possibly lost. The crux of the problem is that for a person to be elected in our system, he or she needs to acquire a quota exclusively from a particular district. This has traditionally proven to be a difficult numerical threshold for any candidate not belonging to one of the two large political parties. As a consequence the two-party system became further entrenched. In the early nineties the Nationalist Party had suggested a fairer system, whereby any party reaching a national threshold, say of five per cent, would be eligible to elect to Parliament a number of candidates, irrespective of the votes obtained in the individual districts. This reform, if implemented, will further Europeanise our country. Most European elections are subject to proportional representation, since it is widely accepted to be the fairest way of electing representatives to parliament. Our system requires more than simple fine- tuning. In the nineties, the Gonzi Commission, entrusted to come up with suggestions for electoral reform, had gone a long way to establish the necessary criteria for change. Eventually, nothing came off that tri-partite effort. Kick-starting the dialogue between the three political parties with a clear deadline for implementation would signify a solid step in the right direction, which once concluded, will enhance the democratic credentials of our country. Party financing is another area equally in need of reform. To date, no political party has ever published the names of the persons who donate money. Donors' names are totally absent from their accounts. The whole exercise is clouded in top secrecy, with names only available to a handful of persons, three at most, in the top most echelons of the party. This system is totally legal in Malta, while outside our shores it has landed people in jail. What is certain is that the system leads to suspicion among ordinary citizens, who have reason to suspect that at times donations are made in return for political favours. Whatever the reason, the time has come for donors' names to be revealed. This too would enhance our democracy. A further reason for transparency in this field is related to the big commercial interests that both parties have. Secretary generals are concentrating less on policy and policy matters and more and more on the running of their party propaganda media machines, which are proving financially unsustainable. T The very idea of these propaganda machines being subsidised by anonymous donations is in itself a danger to democracy. This is a matter for concern and no amount of denial by the parties will convince the ordinary citizen that the political parties commercial media operations are sustainable. The story running in our paper this morning on the financial state of the Labour Party media and the burden on the central administration is more than convincing evidence. A similar situation is certainly to be found on the other side of the political divide. The Prime Minister must go ahead and introduce these necessary reforms. They would be a step in the direction of doing politics differently. Doing politics differently EDITORIAL - April 11 2004 The God excuse To me, God is no more than a myth, a figment of man's imagination, an excuse for everything one cannot ac- count for, a means of holding power over people. God says etc, therefore you will, or else…… Mintoff once told me of his treatment by Gonzi along those lines. Mintoff told him where to get off! I have no recollection of Jesus going around calling himself God, let alone his mother describing herself as the mother of God. The multiplicity of gods worshiped by Greeks and Romans had some merits in targeting the right one to help achieve one wishes. We are sometimes back to this when some of us will be asking God to make sure Man United win, others pleading for Chelsea. Some even think their favourite personality is God. Jews, Christians and Muslims boiled it done to one God, even if they could not remain united in how to worship him. And this is when the trouble starts and is the major cause of conflicts, yesterday, today and, unless someone gets to grips and acknowledges the problem honestly, tomorrow too. Perhaps the Catholic Church, espe- cially if they got the rest of Christian sects on board, is best placed to attempt this, they being the piggy in the middle. New Pope Francis makes encouraging noises. There is after all nothing much wrong with Christ's teachings, as recorded in the New Testament, and boils down to com- mon sense as to how people should behave. So why bring in God? After a brim-full of religion from age seven, and now in the autumn/ winter of my life, I see it all as a big con and here in Malta we have fallen for it hook, line and sinker. I am now happy to describe myself as an "ag- nostic Christian". Surprisingly, I have found many friends, relations, and acquaintances share these thoughts. They match yours. Keep it up. Anthony de Trafford Valletta Reinstating Latin studies for seminarians For many years, the Department of Classics and Archaeology has been teaching Latin to seminarians at the University of Malta. Prof. Vella, at the behest of Mgr Vincent Borg in 1989, then Dean of the Faculty of Theology, devised a programme of Latin study based on an hour's instruction per week for a whole year. This programme served several purposes: it whetted the appetite of the students for the study of Latin; it offered the students access to the Classical Sources in the original language and, most of all, it ful- filled Canon Law 249, which states, "The programme of priestly forma- tion is to provide that students not only are carefully taught their native language but also under- stand Latin well and have a suitable understanding of those foreign languages which seem necessary or useful for their formation or for the exercise of pastoral ministry." This University's course pro- vided the seminarians with a very solid foundation should they have wished to continue their academic studies in Rome, where a sound knowledge of Latin is required. As for the seminarians who preferred a pastoral path, the study of Latin allowed them to be able to under- stand the Liturgy and the parish's registers better. In 2013, this course, without any consultation with Prof. Vella and in defiance of Canon Law, stopped being offered to the seminarians at the University of Malta. The Malta Classics Association is dismayed over this decision and hopes that this situation will be rectified in the next academic year. Maria Giuliana Fenech P.R.O. Malta Classics Association