📷 The Times of Malta
Article originally published by the Times of Malta
Repubblika will publish Democratic Vision 2050 tomorrow
Tomorrow, Repubblika will publish a document that we have been working on for the last several months. We call it Democratic Vision 2050.
It is not simply a reaction to the government’s document, Malta Vision 2050 but goes well beyond that. We are firmly convinced that democracy is too valuable to be entrusted only to politicians but requires the active participation of every citizen. Consequently, our aim is to start a conversation about what you, I and every citizen of Malta would like our children’s future to be.
We are unveiling this vision on July 17. The date has not been chosen haphazardly. It comes one day after our monthly vigil every 16th of the month, marking Daphne Caruana Galizia’s cruel death.
Repubblika has commemorated this day for nearly eight years, with a gathering in Valletta in front of the law courts, the seat of truth and justice. We do so to honour the memory of Caruana Galizia and to renew our call for truth and justice in her case and in that of other victims.
As the years go by, it has become more and more apparent that our duty as citizens cannot stop there. What began as a cry for accountability has developed into a monthly act of citizenship: a reminder that Malta belongs to its people, not just to those who hold power, and that the people have the right to claim their participation in the rule of law.
Democracy, in its most profound sense, is the right and duty of every citizen to participate in shaping the way our country is governed. Not just once every five years but every day, through our speech, actions and refusal to be silenced.
A republic is not a machine that operates automatically. However, we are often made to feel that the future is something that happens without any intervention from our part. Plans are drawn behind closed doors. Announcements are made, promises recycled and slogans repeated.
Words like “vision” are used to describe roadmaps for infrastructure and investment but not for the kind of society we want to live in.
The official Malta Vision 2050 emphasises economic growth, technological advancement and environmental sustainability. These are commendable goals. However, they are not sufficient.
A genuinely national vision must also address justice, integrity and how we regard one another, as well as how we hold those in authority accountable. It must focus not only on what we build but also on who we are becoming and what we want to achieve as a people.
That is why Democratic Vision 2050 is important. Because our future will not be judged only by GDP but by whether people believe the law applies equally to everyone.
A genuinely national vision must also address justice, integrity and how we regard one another
Whether journalists are free to investigate. Whether your voice matters if you are not wealthy, powerful or connected. Whether our constitution still holds: that sovereignty belongs to the people.
Democratic Vision 2050 is not a partisan manifesto. It is a call to action. It is Repubblika’s proposal for democratic renewal – built on the principles that define us as a republic: truth, memory and freedom. And it begins with a straightforward act: telling the truth about our current state.
We do not need to invent problems. We live them. Corruption is not a rumour – it is a system. Institutions that are supposed to protect the public interest are often controlled by private or partisan interests.
The rule of law remains uneven. Power is concentrated, dissent discouraged and civic space narrowed.
But we do not accept this as our fate. Malta can be better. We think it must be better.
In the coming weeks, Repubblika will expand on the ideas and principles outlined in this document.
We will speak of justice, of the rule of law, of inclusion and the constitution as a living covenant between people and power. We hope you will read them not as lectures but as invitations.
Tomorrow, we publish. But the vision only matters if you read it, talk about it, criticise it, challenge it and, most of all, make it your own.
Democracy is not a performance. It is not a spectacle. It is a shared responsibility. It is ours to claim. Ours to protect. Ours to build.
The document will be available at www.repubblika. org/democracy2050 starting July 17. We ask you to read it and, then, speak out. Because Malta’s future is not for others to decide, it belongs to each and every one of us and we are the ones to shape it.
Vicki Ann Cremona
President, Repubblika