As voting comes to a close and we await the electoral result, Repubblika believes this is not only a moment to appoint a new government but also a time to reflect seriously on the quality of our democratic life and the direction our country is taking.
The electoral campaign we have just witnessed too often reduced politics to an auction of promises to individuals, rather than a serious discussion of the common good, the country’s long-term future, and the responsibilities we owe each other as members of a democratic community.
Although both major parties included references to governance, institutional reform, transparency, and democratic standards in their electoral programmes, these themes were largely overshadowed during the campaign. Public debate was instead dominated by short-term, transactional promises, identity-based rhetoric, and political messaging designed primarily for electoral advantage rather than for national responsibility.
Malta continues to face serious democratic challenges: the need for stronger anti-corruption enforcement, greater transparency and accountability, more effective institutional safeguards, the protection of media freedom, and the implementation of the recommendations of the public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Yet corruption prevention, institutional resilience, and democratic reform were rarely treated as central campaign issues, despite their fundamental importance to the country’s future.
We are also concerned by how readily our political leaders throughout this campaign appeared willing to treat fundamental human rights as expendable whenever political expediency seemed to demand it.
The debate over the possibility of additional places of worship for the Muslim community, particularly following the deeply troubling reactions to Omar Rababah’s candidacy earlier in the campaign, exposed how fragile our national understanding of citizenship, equality, and constitutional rights can be under political pressure.
Leaders from across the political spectrum appeared willing to endorse or accommodate rhetoric implying that certain communities should enjoy fewer practical freedoms than others because of their religion or identity.
Malta’s constitutional democracy cannot function on the basis that rights apply only when politically convenient or only to those who conform to the majority sentiment. Democratic leadership requires the protection of fundamental rights precisely when doing so is politically uncomfortable.
We are equally concerned by the continued normalisation of manifest clientelism throughout the campaign. Electoral discourse was repeatedly reduced to the question “what will I get?”, while political parties openly competed to offer benefits, advantages, and promises targeted at particular sectors or groups in exchange for electoral support. This culture weakens citizenship, diminishes the sense of community that should be nurtured among a responsible and socially conscious people, undermines democratic responsibility, and erases the distinction between public service and partisan patronage.
We are particularly concerned by indications that the advantages of incumbency were again deployed during this campaign in ways that reinforce a culture of political dependency.
Reports of intensified public-sector recruitment, personalised interventions on behalf of individual voters, and the widespread perception that access to opportunities or public resources may be influenced by political allegiance deserve serious scrutiny. If any public appointments, employment opportunities, contracts, benefits, or other advantages were offered or granted in return for electoral support, such conduct would raise questions not only of political ethics but potentially of compliance with Malta’s electoral laws, which treat bribery and related practices as serious offences carrying significant criminal and political consequences.
Even where no explicit solicitation of political support can be shown, the systematic use of public resources, public employment, or governmental influence in ways that create dependence on political favour undermines confidence in the impartiality of the State. Democratic competition should be based on ideas, policies, and public service, not on perceptions that those in power enjoy privileged access to public resources for partisan advantage.
A healthy democracy requires a clear distinction between the State, which belongs to all citizens, and the party temporarily entrusted with governing it.
Serious concerns also remain about political party financing and the regulation of electoral campaigns. These include a lack of transparency in cash-based fundraising telethons, campaign expenditures by individual candidates that appear to exceed existing legal limits, and the overall inadequacy of oversight and enforcement mechanisms.
All this reinforces the public perception that political discourse is shaped less by the public interest and more by anonymous donors and hidden financial interests pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Malta cannot continue to tolerate a system in which the financing of political power remains so opaque and enforcement institutions remain so weak.
Despite everything, Repubblika believes Malta now has an opportunity for a fresh start.
The next legislature should be the one in which Malta finally treats the protection of democracy and the rule of law as national priorities rather than external obligations. It should be the legislature in which the recommendations of the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry are fully implemented, meaningful dialogue with civil society is initiated in the spirit of open government, and international standards on transparency, accountability, anti-corruption enforcement, democratic governance, and political financing are not merely met but exceeded.
This must include serious reform of political party financing, effective enforcement of campaign spending rules, stronger safeguards against clientelism and the misuse of public resources, and meaningful transparency of political influence and donations.
Repubblika renews its commitment to continue working constructively, firmly, and independently towards achieving these goals. We hope the next administration will be willing to do likewise.