Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/826629
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 21 MAY 2017 Opinion IT is no secret that one of the most contro- versial parties contesting with a candidate on each district is Moviment Patrijotti Maltin. I'm still baffled at how a group known best for its 'hobz bil-perzut' stunt on a Sunday morning, and their call for a referendum on integration of foreign nationals, made it to a University debate. Surprisingly the debate did not live up to the expectations. Especially because it failed to reflect a critical audience asking erudite questions. Instead most students prepared questions to score political points with their respective political parties. The functioning of a democracy should permeate beyond political parties and their youth sections filling the hall with students cheering their statements. The two main parties used most of their time either to prove that they are innocent or that they are completely revamped, instead of ad- dressing pressing issues. Obviously, corrup- tion is detrimental to democracy and to society but it has been the ticket to win an election for so long, that whether it is 'Malta Taghna lkoll' or more recent 'Forza Nazz- jonali', it does not matter any more because this goes beyond what any political party can set right. It is worrying that a far-right party is rais- ing its head, with Henry Battistino's apology: "Sorry I'm not a skinhead with big tattoos and a Swastika." Continuing that the party is often labelled as far-right but that he's just a "hard-working nannu" who wants to "preserve Malta's traditional Catholic values", is anything but a charming open- ing statement. It speaks volumes about the failure of all political parties to address the rights of minorities in our country. I do recognise that once again Malta placed first in Europe on LGBTIQ civil liber- ties, and whilst that is something to extol, it should not blind us to seeing that there are other minorities in our community be- ing neglected. Introducing Islam in schools is never included under this category of civil liberties, because that would draw a tangent to this. It is offensive to say the least that none of the parties used their time to rebut the ar- guments put forward by the MPM leader. Firstly, because they were too busy picking on each other, secondly because he was talking about foreigners, and most worrying per- haps because we tend to be too positive and believe it is the very few who share these thoughts. I speak for the voiceless here. If we are re- ally yearning unity as one nation, then we shall not undermine the contribution of foreigners. It is very discouraging that stu- dents were not as assertive to this divisive- ness as much as they were to corruption claims. Undermining these statements risks normalizing and tolerating them. The leader of this hate-spreading group specifically commented on the hate spread by Labour and Nationalists. This statement is very confusing coming from a group which started from Facebook bullying all those who stand for minorities and immigrants. Al- beit not being a skinhead or with big tattoos and not having a Swastika, Henry Battistino is nothing more than the leader of a far- right party. 'Big tattoos' do not make you a racist, Is- lamophobe and a far-rightist, but hateful speech towards minorities and immigrants does. It is all about the underlying stereo- types and misinformation which is spread, starting from his supposition that being a hard-working 'nannu' somewhat excludes him from being a close-minded xenophobe. Which he is. Catholic values are no excuse for these statements, and here the other leaders should give the lie to this, if they really con- sider themselves Catholic or people who re- ally stand for unity and peace. Is it too much to hope for, that they would assert that in- tolerance and hatred are not Catholic values as much as they assert that corruption has no place in a democracy? If most of the students at the debate thought that any leader won in any way, everyone lost – including Malta. There is much more to a democracy than standing against corruption, how good our economy is doing and uniting with those who favour the same political colour we do. As an active student at the university, I hope fellow students will be as active, as- sertive and putting this much effort to par- ticipate in other events organised by their colleagues as much as they did during the debate. Democracy and activism find their roots beyond political parties and let us be truly free. Sorry, not sorry Sara Ezabe It is worrying that a far-right party is raising its head, and it speaks volumes about the failure of all political parties to address the rights of minorities in our country