Democracy in practice

Sheriffs are still being elected in the USA, but this is the first time that a voting process will be taking place in a European country to choose a Police supremo.

PCCs will be replacing government-appointed police authorities and will have the power to set priorities, run their allocated budgets and even hire and fire Chief Constables. The move described by The Economist as "the most radical transformation of policing in decades" is intended to make police more responsive to local priorities.

The relationship between the Police, the government of the day and the people is always a difficult one. In a small country like Malta, the situation is even worse. During the Mintoff years, we have had the experience of the police abusively abetting the political ends of the party in power. Now that we have an administration that prefers to adopt a 'hands off' attitude to the Police, the force is often coming across as a rudderless ship drifting in an open sea, with too many unresolved problems surfacing during stormy weather.

The Commissioner of Police is a department head answerable to a Minister. Yet, he has powers that go beyond following the minister's policy. This, in my opinion, is one of the more serious conundrums in our political system.

Considering the size of our country and the ever-present political fray, I am not proposing that the head of the Police Force should be answerable to a Police and Crime Commissioner chosen by voters in yet another election. Perhaps we should, however, create such a post with the person involved being appointed by a vote of at least two thirds of the members of the House of Representatives.

Although many might think that the idea is impractical, we have already had the experience of two Constitutional posts appointed in this manner: the ombudsman and the Auditor General. This experience has been generally a very positive one, despite some shortcomings in particular instances, and I strongly feel that it could be repeated in this case.

We cannot afford to have the police force being either subject to too much political interference or completely abandoned by politicians who shirk from their responsibilities, lest they are accused of political interference.

Democracy is not a static condition and innovative ways of strengthening it should always be sought.

Censu and Peter

Malta has just lost two of its sons who strove so hard to strengthen our democracy - Censu Tabone and Peter Serracino Inglott.

Censu Tabone was not just a gentleman politician. He was a patriot who always sought what he thought was best for our country. In my opinion, the most interesting aspect of his character was that he always questioned what was perceived as accepted wisdom that cannot be challenged. It is to this trait in his character that he owes his discovery that, contrary to the accepted medical wisdom at the time, trachoma was caused by bacteria - a discovery that shot him into prominence in the international medical arena.

So it was with his way of confronting political issues: do not assume anything and challenge the accepted 'truth'. Of course, many a time this sort of challenge fails to produce any revelation and Censu would always be ready to be persuaded and accept the opinions that he had started off by challenging. But the challenging process would also often open up new perceptions and new ideas and his input was therefore immensely valuable.

Despite his age, Censu was the eternal youngster. After its electoral loss in 1971, the PN rebuilt itself inspired by a group of people who sensed the party needed a new vision and purpose. Censu Tabone was not only one of them, but he was also the link between the old and the new PN: the only person who served as Minister under Borg Olivier (1966-1971) and under Fenech Adami after 1987.

Censu Tabone was, indeed, one of a kind.

As was Peter Serracino Inglott - in a very different manner, of course.

I can never forget my first close encounter with Father Peter. Way back in 1975, I had just been elected PN Information Secretary and I was tasked to present a PR plan for the party.

When I prepared the document to be presented to the party executive for approval, Louis Galea, the then General Secretary, suggested that I should consult Peter Serracino Inglott about it. An appointment was fixed and I trudged to Tarxien where he used to live with his sick mother and soon found myself in his 'study' full of shelves holding detergent boxes that used to double up as box files. Somewhat gingerly, I showed my draft to Peter who read through it. He then but pen to paper and started drawing brackets and arrows to indicate how the position of some sentences should be changed and how the paragraphs should be juxtaposed, all without changing more than three or four of the words in my draft.

I did not exactly realise the effect of what he had suggested until I went home and retyped the document as indicated by him. There was no cut and paste facilities then, of course! When I read the 'revised' text, I was surprised to see that the document was much clearer and logical. It was a lesson I never forgot: I always try to ensure that whatever I write is in a logical sequence - not that I always manage to do so!

A clear logical sequence is what Fr Peter always came up. His enormous store of knowledge - cutting across all disciplines - was the background behind every document he wrote: a canvas woven by a superior intellect that made his way of putting things across so exciting.

Fr Peter has been rightly credited with writing the PN's political credo document, 'Fehmiet Bażici', and many of the PN's electoral programmes.

In truth, he used to collate a number of ideas brought forward by several people with diverse attitudes to a number of issues and manage to produce a logical and intellectually stimulating document that encompassed practically all of these ideas. In preparation of the PN's electoral programme, shadow ministers or incumbent ministers - as the case would be - were asked to submit their proposals. These and other ideas were then passed to Fr Peter who would search for, and successfully find, a recurring theme that keeps surfacing through the entire document prepared by him. Thanks to him, it was indeed a fascinating experience to see the process by which the PN electoral programme used to evolve.

Compare the PN's last electoral programme with the previous six and you will note that the last PN electoral programme had something missing. It was just a potpourri of ideas and proposals (some of which were actually impractical) thrown in without any logical sequence and missing a unifying intellectual theme - missing the vision that the PN seems to have now completely lost.

Fr Peter's contribution to the political history of Malta is immense.