Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/433160
Opinion 25 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2014 politics is problematic. In terms of pre- and post-war Maltese politics I very much doubt whether Mizzi's PN ever sympathised with either Don Sturzo or De Gasperi. If anything, and not without a degree of paradox, Sturzo's ideals were closer to the Labour Party's commitment to the social doctrine of the Church, particularly Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum, which remained in Labour's manifesto even under Mintoff. We know that Mizzi's Nationalism was marked by a distinct form of conservative Italianità and an irredentist and anti-British stand that had nothing in common with Sturzo's political ideals. Let's not forget that the Christian Democratic turn in the PN was fairly recent, and mostly came down to several leaders who changed its direction: notably de Marco Snr, Fenech Adami, Mifsud Bonnici and the late Professor Serracino Inglott. So when we hear the current PN leaders reclaiming their roots, let's keep this in some perspective. Beyond the party model Beyond any argument over which party is crowned Malta's centre-left party, what we should be asking is whether in itself the party model really works. More importantly, when we make our own political choices we should be asking: How do we think our politics? Many would come up with some principles that broadly echo a political party. Some would try to disentangle the categories by which the left, right and centre have come to dominate the political imaginary and its grammars. However, we should be asking why do we agree with a political party and not another? Is it because our interests are best represented by Party A, rather than B or C? If that were the case, what dictates these interests? Personal advantage? Family? Social class? Ideology? Most of the time, the sequence is not exactly clear. So rather than try to claim whether the PN has taken the PL's clothes or vice-versa, the question we should be asking is whether the model that both the PL and PN have adopted in their respective histories is still fit for purpose. These questions invariably come to mind when as in the last two weeks, the Maltese public witnessed and engaged in fierce bickering over party allegiance, weak and strong leadership, accountability, the timing for sacking a prominent minister, political responsibility, etc. Beyond the merits of who got it right or wrong, it was clear that the fierce polarisation, which some of us hoped that it would become a thing of the past, is still very much alive in Maltese politics. Yet when it comes to it, what matters is whether we have learnt anything from this situation, or whether the Maltese political imaginary resorted all too quickly to old habits to preserve and seek to reinforce the hegemonies that characterise it. So while I disagree with his central argument, I have no qualms with Dr de Marco Jr claiming that his party is the new centre-left. However I would suggest that before claiming not so distant roots and making rhetorical arguments, people should take a closer look at how the party model adopted and sustained by the PN and PL seems to leave intact a major obstacle to social justice and inequity. I see this obstacle manifested in a fixed and almost permanent sense that there is always an Establishment that survives no matter what or who is governing this land. This is not unique to Malta and certainly it is currently felt considering the huge inequality that reigns supreme across the globe. However while it is easy to resort to hasty slogans, it is far more difficult to begin to restore the claims and rights of the many, who in their diverse political and social ambitions, cannot be forgotten or ignored for the sake of the few. To me, beyond any party, this is the political yardstick that matters and this is where I begin to approach and try to understand where the political parties would stand – be it on the left, right or centre! John Baldacchino is Chair of Art Education at the University of Dundee, Scotland Opinion People should take a closer look at how the party model adopted and sustained by the PN and PL seems to leave intact a major obstacle to social justice and inequity Malta's 40-year-old Republic In terms of pre- and post-war Maltese politics I very much doubt whether Mizzi's PN ever sympathised with either Don Sturzo (top left) or De Gasperi (top right). Sturzo's ideals were closer to the Labour Party's commitment to the social doctrine of the Church, particularly Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum, which remained in Labour's manifesto even under Mintoff