ToonToday: The Bin Laden connection

We have said it and we will say it again, we have problems with some of our parliamentarians. We refer here to the quality.

There are members of parliament, on both sides of the house, who either never utter a word or better still when they do decide to do so, are an embarrassment to watch.

Eddie Fenech Adami and Alfred Sant must be aware of this. But what are they doing about it?

There are speakers who are misinformed, unprepared and speak utter rubbish.

Others, such as the PN’s Claude Muscat, a Rabat parliamentarian, will be remembered for literally saying zilch. And by zilch we mean absolutely nothing.

There are others who are slowly but steadily following in his steps.

For versatility and ability to speak gobbledegook in a Maltese parliament we have the MLP’s Rita Law and Joe Cuschieri.

What is stupefying is that these individuals get elected in the first instance.

When we thought that some frontbenchers were maturing, we experienced firsthand the banal and stupid attack by Jesmond Mugliett, a junior minister, on Mr Martin Scicluna, the gentleman President of Din L-Art Helwa.

Mr Mugliett attacked Mr Scicluna for having queried the top-heavy draft Heritage bill. The junior minister suggested that he had an agenda because he was once an advisor to Alfred Sant, conveniently forgetting in the process that Mr Scicluna was first appointed to the post of advisor by Eddie Fenech Adami.

But then we are sure that Mr Mugliett will not suffer from this blunder, since his electoral base is almost certainly not sophisticated enough to understand the seriousness of his ‘error’.

Which takes us to the way parliamentarians are elected in the first place.

There are no party lists in Malta, the party simply accepts you and puts you on its list.

We are for party lists and many other things in the electoral system.

We are also for a smaller parliament, with better salaries.

A parliament of 65 is far too big for this small country.

Party lists rout out all the weeds and bad breath that festers within party structures. It allows parties to put forward the right candidates with the best credentials.

When the Gonzi Commission debated electoral reform, party lists were discussed but quickly discarded.

Dr Fenech Adami was not very much in favour and Dr Sant was in no mood for rocking the boat.

Both leaders were only interested in assuring that the anomalies in the majority clause would not be repeated and to hell with the rest. They were short-term in approach and both lacked vision for the future.

The party list is the system administered in most European countries, be it England or Germany.

It guarantees that the better elements are elected and channelled to run this country and decide for it.

For this to happen, every party must have a democratic think-tank to sift through and earmark the right individuals.

It can happen, but unfortunately the case is that any change or reform will only take place if the leader of the party opts for it. And in the present circumstances we cannot see this happening. Both leaders are in a trench mentality and in no mood to seek consensus on the things that matter.

We must start this debate.