GUEST POST: June 3rd is Malta’s opportunity to show the rest of Europe that there is no room in our democracy for corruption and lies

This guest post has been written by a concerned Maltese citizen who lives in the UK.

Last night – in the second round of their Presidential election, and earlier in the first round – the people of France, like the thinking democrats that they are, came to the aid of their country. In the first round, they abjured corruption and ditched Fillon, the front-runner. Last night, they faced down a populist right wing threat and elected Macron instead of Le Pen.

June 3 gives Malta an opportunity to show each other, our children and Europe that there is no room in Malta’s democracy for corruption and lies. But will we grasp that opportunity?

The first week of the campaign makes you wonder.  Just look at some of the howlers being peddled about town.

1. Muscat is experienced. Busuttil is new and untried.

Muscat wasn’t experienced when he was voted in with a 36,000 vote majority in 2013. When he became Labour leader, he didn’t even have a seat in the Maltese parliament. His ‘newness’ then did not count against him. Why does it count against Busuttil now?

2. Muscat is strong and the better orator. Busuttil is no Eddie Fenech Adami.

This is not a beauty parade, testing the cosmetic look and sound of two celebrities. People have different styles. That’s why they’re different people – and many great orators across the ages have made awful leaders.  The real question at this juncture of Malta’s history is about honesty and trust, about whether we want to be a civilised or a lawless society, on whether we REALLY want to live in a fair, transparent and meritocratic country.

3. I’ll be Labour/Nationalist forever.

For heaven’s sake, grow up.  Look around you and see what happens elsewhere: electoral fortunes shift in societies where voters think with their heads. They sometimes get it wrong, but they don’t get it the same all the time.  Stop being a slave, you are a citizen, not just electoral fodder.

4. I have euros to spend, so who cares about these ‘cucati’?

Do you really want your children to grow up in a country of supplicants, where their livelihood depends on whether they pay kickbacks, on whether they speak out about injustice, on whether they ‘play the game’? And how many euros do you have to spend anyway, next to the millions some are making through corruption?  Corruption is not a victimless crime: you ARE the victim.

5. They’re each as bad as the other. I’m not voting.

And that makes either of them better? And that means that on June 4, neither of them will form the government of your country? Will staying at home on June 3 change anything for you?  Going to vote has a much better chance of changing things. So for heaven’s sake, go out and vote. Choose which party you think is best, because despite what you say, you know that in truth one of them is better than the other. Men and women through the ages have fought and died to gain this right to vote – and in some countries, people still do.  Don’t waste that right. Use it.

Break free of the football-game mind set of tribal warfare. This is a crucial, extremely serious matter: a general election which change the fate of Malta immeasurably for the worse if Muscat wins again. T

his is not entertainment like Juve or Hibs. This is about who governs the country. Look at the facts. Have the good sense to think it through calmly. Make use of the privacy of the polling booth to vote for your country. Look at how the French have just saved theirs from disaster, and do the same. Vote for Malta.