Written By Rafel Grima, a member of Moviment Graffitti, on politics
Does a fish in the ocean know that it is swimming in water? Or is it so used to its surroundings that it hardly knows better? It is a similar situation with our broken political system. Most of us are so used to it, we hardly notice the various ways in which Malta has a democratic deficit.
That is just the point, however. The majority of people can want something, and not get it. Our quality of life can be under siege. Regardless of which of the two main political parties are in power, it seems that nothing ever changes. The reason why is simple.
It is hard enough fighting corruption when it is illegal; but what can one do when a form of legal bribery is widespread and accepted?
That is to say, we live in a political system where our political parties are critically dependent upon donations from big businesses. These businessmen are not donating money to political parties out of kindness. It is because they expect a return on their investment.
In exchange for these donations, our politicians change legislation. They may even go as far as to instruct their appointees in our institutions, such as the Planning Authority, to bend policies and interpret them in a certain way to favour these elites, as money pays for influence which in turn generates more money.
In practice, it means that while the majority of people want effective, forward-looking planning and infrastructure and a better environment, the country instead keeps spiralling further down the rabbit hole of overdevelopment. This is because a few supremely powerful people are calling the shots, with zero accountability.
If a businessman gives money to an individual politician to call in favours, we call it corruption. When he does the exact same thing with a political party, we call it a donation. Malta’s political system is deeply broken. Unfortunately, there is little will to fix it because the country’s elites have a financial interest in the status quo continuing.
It does not have to be this way, however. There are many countries that have other party financing models, which Malta can look into – not to simply copy other countries, but to take best practices from them.
Resolving the country’s broken party financing laws is in everybody’s interest, including in the interests of the major parties. This is because ultimately, not even politicians want to be at the mercy of a few wealthy business people.
Power should rest with the people, not with the richest of the rich. The political parties can actually free themselves from these influences, and act in accordance with principles, ideology and the common good. Reforming party financing laws means that Parliament is no longer an auction house for business people to buy out our politicians. It means giving political parties financial independence.
Event Details
It is time that Malta starts talking about how to take money out of local politics, as a first step towards a fairer democracy. That is what we will be doing at ‘Can We Take Money Out of Maltese Politics?’, hosted in collaboration with KSU.
Held on Wednesday 1st December during DegreePlus hours, starting at 12:15, the event will take place at the KSU Common Room. It will begin with a presentation on the Maltese electorate’s thoughts on the subject, followed by a discussion with Prof. Edward Warrington, from the Department of Public Policy, and Dr Michael Briguglio, from the Department of Sociology.
You can find the event details including the link to the live stream of the event here!
You also find other articles about Politics here!