Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/897139
27 maltatoday SUNDAY 5 NOVEMBER 2017 Editorial MaltaToday, MediaToday Co. Ltd, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 EXECUTIVE EDITOR: MATTHEW VELLA Tel: (356) 21 382741-3, 21 382745-6 • Fax: (356) 21 385075 www.maltatoday.com.mt E-mail: maltatoday@mediatoday.com.mt Quote of the week Malta's 'amoral familism', revisited "I pray that the hard and contemptuous words with which we demonise and denigrate each other cease once and for all. May we enjoy true freedom and prosperity in solidarity" – Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna's homily at the funeral of Daphne Caruana Galizia Much has been said of Malta's problem of 'amoral familism': a term coined by Edward Banfield in his book on the Italian south, 'The Moral Basis of a Backward Society', and applied to Malta by the late anthro- pologist Jeremy Boissevain. It describes the typical, self-interested, family-centric society where the State – or even the community's better interest – is sacrificed on the altar of one's own person- al benefit. It is the gateway for nepotism; and in a liberal democracy commandeered by two parties, patronage is what feeds Malta's dependence on the political class. In the light of the ongoing discussion on institutional reform, this description of Malta, dating back over 40 years, remains every bit as relevant today. Though half a century has passed since Independence, Malta remains an imperfect state and, as a liberal democracy, an im- mature nation. Since 1964, Maltese life has been oc- cupied by the dominance of two mass political parties. Through this dominance, we have come to accept a situation whereby the two parties supervise all things that permeate public life. They are omnipresent inside regulatory structures that control data and information, such as the Elec- toral Commission and the Broadcasting Authority; through government-appointed representatives, they remain in control of the Planning Authority; and they also preside over a nation besotted with the political class. Even in public spaces and private com- panies, parks and doorways, footpaths and motorways, we find constant remind- ers that the blessing of the minister has preceded one's enjoyment of said space. It would seem like a case of deus ex machina, where the political class is the ultimate solution to any conundrum... not only that, but politics is the vehicle through which Maltese life is umbilically nourished. Though first identified in the 1960s, these problems persist in Malta in 2017. The consistent flouting of planning regula- tions, the uncritical adulation of the free market, the privatisation of open space and countryside, the unbridled property mar- ket and worship of profit for its own sake, a weak sense of heritage, and the wider sense of 'family' – the party-political one – all find a cosy arrangement in the alternation of power that the two-party system allows. The two-party system knows this. It is kept alive by the culture of patronage, and by business interests regularly 'insuring' themselves on policy-making with their donations to parties and financing of their unsustainable media vehicles. The two- party system relies on the domination of people's psyche with its hyper-presence in the media – with television at its forefront, and then with social media and its apolo- gists and pundits ever present in all other forms of public life. This reality has seeped into the con- sciousness of even the most independent thinkers, until the freedom to be a heretic in Malta is constrained by working and liv- ing teeth-by-jowl with political logrollers. Artists who employ satire and rail against the political class and their apparatchiks are considered sacrilegious; citizen move- ments must contend with the inevitabil- ity of overlapping with party movers and shakers; journalists shorn of partisan links remain mistrusted, even when carrying out their duties to the best of their capabilities. It is this poisonous culture, ever-present since Malta's pacific passage into Inde- pendence, that gives rise to the weak character of those who lead its regulators, those who are supposed to be guardians of a system of checks-and-balances, but who often end up rubber-stamping govern- ment's policy decisions. To be fair, it is by no means a unique problem to Malta. The most advanced democracies in the world are susceptible to democratic coups of populists, crooks and illiberal politicians. The United States is a case in point. But in its 241-year history it has matured into a nation that is but- tressed by a grand system of checks-and- balances. One watches how the Comey and Mueller investigations take on the power- ful in what is, hopefully, a selfless quest in the search of truth. Herein lies the rub for the 'young' Maltese. Only a well-resourced system of checks and balances can serve as a defensive buffer against patronage and the domineering power of political parties. A full-time parliamentarian system would keep professional interests at bay, and engage MPs into the public role of scruti- nising government appointees on a rolling basis; an independent and autonomous State Prosecution Service would devolve from the Attorney General, currently oc- cupying the mutually incompatible roles of government advisor and State prosecutor, the latter role. These are systemic flaws, and as such cannot be easily attributable to the office- holder in person (or even, for that matter to the party currently occupying govern- ment) – even though this newspaper has embraced the call for a Commissioner of Police who can truly carry out his duties independently of the government of the day. It is only through systemic changes that the much-needed system of checks and balances can be buttressed. It is for this reason that the coun- try needs a new legislative model that separates the roles of legal counsel to the executive, leaving the power of prosecu- tion in the hands of investigative and legal minds that can carry out this national duty without fear or favour. We need guarantees that a Commissioner of Police can display the character to act free from political pressure, and likewise, a national broadcaster that can act equally freely of political influence. These are just a few of the urgent struc- tural changes Malta still has not experi- enced since Independence. Clearly, the time has come to introduce them.