When I returned from Australia four years ago, little did I know that the Panama Papers scandal was going to unleash a trail of events which not only led to the assassination of Malta’s foremost investigative journalist but also the unravelling of a web of corruption, criminality and deceit.
Having been active within Alternattiva Demokratika soon after its founding more than 30 years ago, I used to follow their movement towards a more just society.
Their effort was made more challenging due to the major disadvantages with respect to the PLPN which receive massive private donations disguised as ‘services’ through their media and other companies (most of them in secret).
We all know that what this means when it comes to doing what is right, especially when it concerns the environment. PLPN are held hostage by those interests for whom their own personal enrichment takes precedence over everything else.
We have seen it happening over and over again with so-called ‘developments’ being concocted quietly and almost by stealth. Too many instances which have led to the destruction of not just the physical environment of many localities but our way of life.
The latest such ‘projects’ to really hit home in my case was the Marsascala marina proposal, which was announced during what journalists know as the silly season when serious news usually does not happen. Little did the powers that be think that there would be a tsunami of protest, not just from the locals but from many who would like to see an immediate halt to this unbridled development that is destroying all that makes us Maltese.
Many will no longer accept the deception that all this development is for our own good when what we are seeing is ruining the very fabric of our society.
ADPD – The Green Party has also always supported the struggles of local communities to defend their quality of life against overdevelopment. On the bigger agenda there is, of course, climate change, that is the biggest challenge that humanity has every faced. Economic, environmental and social needs should be addressed in a holistic manner for the common good.
Malta is also the only country in democratic Europe where political parties own their own broadcast and print media and use these to brainwash their respective constituencies with unabashed propaganda that leaves one little space to think.
As Times of Malta revealed earlier this month, PLPN owe over €5 million in unpaid VAT. Both parties reportedly also owe millions in unpaid income tax and social security contributions. This effectively means that these instruments of division are being funded by our own income tax contributions.
Our country’s reputation has also taken a hit through the lack of checks and balances that should exist in a real democracy. This has been put into the spotlight through the Daphne assassination inquiry report and through other news emerging in the courts and other sources.
It goes without saying that many years will be needed until our country’s reputation can be fully restored. I am also sure that the lack of apparent inaction is not helping to show that this country wants to return to the road of democracy.
ADPD – The Green Party also believes in a participative and pluralistic democracy based on the rule of law, subsidiarity, adequate checks and balances to ensure a separation between constitutional powers and legal safeguards which serve as effective deterrents against corruption and the dominance of economic interests and egoistic lobby groups.
It was, therefore, easy for me to decide to contest the next election on behalf of ADPD – The Green Party, to give an opportunity to those who believe that the current degradation needs to be stopped. Many have questioned why I would want to do this when the country remains dominated by two major parties that stifle and hijack the day-to-day discourse.
Each one of us is responsible to bring about the change that this country badly needs. Together with my colleagues, we want to contribute to bring this about with the support of all those who want to make their vote really count.
Brian Decelis
