“Unfortunately as a young democracy, we don’t have the sense that this is our country and it is not that the government is far away,” he said. “There is a crisis of this feeling of the common good that we need a critical attitude towards.

“We’re always grateful for what we receive, but this benevolent despotism is almost still with us, in a system where everything is granted as a favour and you have to be grateful to the government for doing their job. 

“I think that it is a poison for the common good. The government does the right things because it’s their job to do it. Our gratitude is an expression of courtesy but we don’t owe it to them. They owe it to us to do their job.” 

The ‘People, Power: Documenting protest since 1957’, exhibition is a World Press Photo exhibition currently being hosted by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Malta at Laparelli gardens in Valletta, and documents popular uprisings and people’s movements across the world. 

He stressed the importance that power in a democracy truly lies in the hands of the people. 

“We need to reflect on our structures of democracy and realise as the honourable minister said, that without free journalism – and journalism that is free, respected and guaranteed safety and also the right to life – we have no democracy,” Scicluna said, referring to Herrera’s speech before his.

During his address, the minister referred to the struggles of the Maltese people when under British rule in 1919 but did not mention the more recent political turmoil witnessed by the country following the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.    

“Our recent past has gone through the great tragedy of the assassination of a journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia. If we’re going to recognise our fight for freedom in 1919, we’ll have to also recognise the great cost of freedom paid by a lady in our recent history.

“And we cannot ignore the very strong conclusions of the investigation that has called to the responsibility our state structure and each and every one of us.”

Scicluna went on to reflect about the danger posed by echo-chambers when it comes to social dialogue. Social media and journalism were increasingly producing bubbles of people who were unable to process ideas that conflicted with their own beliefs. 

“We are nourishing and nurturing our own narrative, our own resentment and there is no real dialogue,” Scicluna warned. “This is a great danger of journalism today.” 

Scicluna stressed the need for education in the pursuit of democracy. “Without education, you don’t have real democracy because it is education that empowers people to have a critical attitude to power. Without education power becomes oligarchy.”

The ‘People, Power: Documenting protest since 1957’, exhibition is open to members of the public for free and will be on till 12th November. 

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