MUDU takes to Quad to debate whether a vote for a small party is a vote wasted

On Tuesday, 25 April, the University of Malta Debating Union held its second debate, focusing on the motion that A vote for a small party is a vote wasted.

This initiative followed two successful events held by the Union in 2017: a debate on whether the University of Malta is living up to its expectations and an outstanding event when the MUDU Committee hosted BBC’s Hardtalk presenter Stephen Sackur, who gave talks about public speaking and debating skills and investigative journalism.

These activities gave MUDU rewarding recognition among both UoM students and staff as the platform for a healthy generation of a debate culture on campus.

The debate held this week focused on the role of third parties in our current political system. It focused on the future of small parties, especially considering that two parties have dominated the Maltese political system and the oft repeated disillusionment in both major parties, PN and PL. The speakers in favour of the motion that “a vote for a small party is a vote wasted” were Opposition MP Claudette Buttigieg, Minister for Health, Chris Fearne, and University student Michael Piccinino, while the speakers against the motion were Prof. Arnold Cassola, leader of Alternat- tiva Demokratika, Dr Anthony Buttigieg, deputy leader of Partit Demokratiku, university student Stefan Cutajar and Ivan Grech Mintoff from Alleanza Bidla. The debate was moderated by Christoph Schwaiger from the MUDU Committee.

The arguments revolved around the political realities, current affairs and the need for a culture change accompanied by institutional reform of the current Maltese electoral system. The speakers in favour of the motion emphasised that in order to realistically bring about change in the current political set up in Malta, a person must be elected to either government or at least parliament.

Ms Buttigieg reinforced the point that smaller parties unfortunately cannot make it on their own, and praised the move by the PD to consider an alliance with the Nationalist Party. She explained how if this were to materialise, a person would still be able to vote PD, while giving a small party a stronger platform within the system.

Mr Piccinino reminded the audience of our current political reality, and emphasised that, given the current system, voting for a small party was a waste.

Minister Fearne analytically distinguished the different scenarios and emphatically insisted that votes for small parties are always a waste unless they are simply meant as a protest vote, the effect of which is in any case very short-lived.

These arguments were countered by the team speaking against the motion. They all argued that in Malta’s current political climate, with both parties being caught in their own scandals, people feeling disillusioned, and the general perception that if one disagrees with both parties one would have no choice but to abstain from voting or to vote for the party one disagreed with least, the political system will slowly but surely disintegrate.

All those opposing the motion claimed that this year will be the time for change to ensure that third parties will increase their political standing.

Mr Cutajar further highlighted how in a system where people are made to choose between red and blue, in times which are fundamentally different from the times when we were left this system by the British, the political system had reached a point of stagnation. This, he argued, is why third parties were sorely needed, despite a difference in opinion or position among them.

Prof. Cassola, in a passionate intervention, said that it was the two main political parties which had driven through the idea that a vote for a third party would be a vote wasted. According to him, this has resulted in immeasurable damage on our islands, exemplified by excessive congestion and loss of land due to ill-designed urban sprawl.

He further claimed that if young people especially really wanted to see change and make change, they should vote for a third party, rather than resort to abiding by the system which has remained stagnant because of the mentality that a vote for a third party would be a wasted vote.

The event remained loyal to a traditional debate, meaning that speakers were asked to put their most convincing arguments forward in relation to their position rather than have an open discussion. This style of discussing issues has the specific objective to develop valuable debate skills which are not only immensely useful in such a situation, but can be put to effective use in everyday life. The MUDU Committee intends to continue working through further initiatives which are to be implemented in the coming academic year. MUDU can be found on Facebook (University of Malta Debating Union), or contacted via email: mudu@um.edu.mt