Gerald Fenech
With that statement, part of a letter addressed to Duncan Sandys, then Colonial Secretary, Dr Borg Olivier set in motion the process to gain independence from the British Empire in the Commonwealth. It was a tortuous yet strangely swift process that lasted just over two years and brought with it controversy, hope and despair, but ultimately the right to settle our own affairs, rightly or wrongly, after centuries of oppression and exploitation by the various nations and empires which had ruled us with the proverbial rod of iron.
Prelude
The Sette Giugno riots in 1919 probably created the demand and the need for some sort of self-government. There were ominous signs that the population might riot again and the British were fast realising that their vast Empire was threatening to break up. Australia, New Zealand and Canada had been dominions for decades and civil disobedience in India was creating an unstoppable overwhelming force that was personified in one extraordinary man, Mahatma Ghandi. The Nationalist government of 1932 had applied for dominion status but was turned down by the British government. The signs of war were on the horizon and when war broke out in 1939 Malta played its heroic part. After the war came to an end the Maltese started questioning the so-called might of the British Empire. Singapore, Malaysia, Burma and India had all gained independence by 1947 and many African countries were already on the road to freedom by the early fifties. What was Malta’s position?
Integration or a break with Britain
As successive Labour and Nationalist administrations worked to deal with the alarmingly high death rate and social inequality prevalent in the immediate post war years, one of the greatest political forces in Maltese politics was starting to make his presence felt. The man was Dom Mintoff, a Rhodes scholar and one of the most charismatic and unforgettable politicians of all time. He easily displaced the dignified and conciliatory Sir Paul Boffa from the leadership of the Labour Party and surrounded himself with a group of young and earnest politicians who were ready to do anything for him. The Labour Party’s massive electoral victory in 1955 gave Mintoff the mandate to start negotiating claims with an increasingly stingy and non-committal British government that was now seeing the writing on the wall. Protracted negotiations on budgetary and economic matters resulted in the bizarre proposal for Integration with Great Britain that failed for a number of reasons, among which the religious issue with Archbishop Gonzi who strongly opposed integration. When Mintoff realised that the die was cast, he resigned the premiership and three uncertain years followed with the island being governed by direct rule from London. The riots in 1958 and the acrimonious exchanges between the British and the Maltese, coupled with the disastrous loss in Britain’s international prestige due to the Suez incident and Prime Minister Anthony Eden’s resignation, created fertile ground for Maltese demands to be a sovereign and independent state.
On the road to independence
After protracted battles on a new Constitution and the much publicised dispute between the Catholic Church and the Labour Party, the Nationalist Party won the 1962 election and immediately proceeded to call for meetings to discuss the independence issue. In the meantime, the Labour Party declared itself opposed to independence on the PN’s terms and there were two new parties who also opposed independence for different reasons. The Constitutional Party led by Mabel Strickland was caught in a traditionalist past and was decades behind in its view of the world. The Partit Nazzjonalista Demokratiku (PND) led by Dr Herbert Ganado had split from the PN as it believed that the time was not ripe for the island to go it alone and it had its reservations on the new Constitution, deeming it too secular. Ganado advocates at length on the independence and the historical issues of the time in those classic four volumes of Rajt Malta Tinbidel that remain essential reading for any self-respecting historical enthusiast. There was a third party led by firebrand Toni Pellegrini, the Christian Workers Party, but this was not as effective as the other two.
An intensive round of negotiations then began between the Maltese government led by Prime Minister Dr Giorgio Borg Olivier and the Colonial Secretary Duncan Sandys on behalf of the British government. The negotiations involved a complex and lengthy debate on the new Independence Constitution, defence matters, financial assistance, the revitalisation of industry, the dockyard issue, military base tenancy and a multitude of other issues on which both the Maltese and the British fought tooth and nail to retain the best possible deal. Among the most contentious issues was the Church-State relations situation with the Labour Party proposing the now famous ‘six points’ that called for civil marriage and other similar secular matters.
The Nationalist government also explored other avenues of support including a much publicised meeting between Borg Olivier and several top American officials including Secretary of State Dean Rusk and President John F. Kennedy. Financial assistance, the setting up of a American military base and a boost to the tourism industry were top on the agenda but nothing tangible came out of the meetings and there were times when one would have lost hope of ever attaining independence.
Borg Olivier also petitioned the Italian government for economic assistance and advice to kick-start the tourism industry which at the time was underdeveloped and depended almost exclusively on the British market. There was a singular push to increase emigration quotas and this was also met with some hard opposition from the US although Canada and Australia generously increased their quotas. The inevitable British rundown was also taking its toll on the dockyard industry and the much vaunted negotiations with Baileys to take over the shipyards only served to complicate and frustrate matters as unemployment continued to rise and the British continued to play Scrooge with the Maltese.
In the meantime, Leader of the Opposition Dom Mintoff was involved in several questionable diplomatic offensives including a high profile meeting with President Abdel Gamel Nasser of Egypt. The British government, acting in its usual rather defensive manner even feared that Mintoff would stage some sort of coup d’état (Frendo, 2000). With the delicate situation in Cyprus and Libya and the developing Palestinian-Israeli question, there was much concern about granting independence to a strategically important island state in the centre of the Mediterranean. Indeed, the negotiations almost stalled as the Mintoff manoeuvres continued to destabilise the delicate balance between the British and Maltese governments.
Independence at last
Still, as time went by, the British realised that they could not stop ‘the winds of change’ so aptly described by Prime Minister Macmillan in his famous speech on the new world order. The thorny issues remained, the tortuous defence agreement and the financial package that would kick-start Malta on its new road on its own, full of hope, for the future. In the end, common sense prevailed and the British kept their various bases at Hal Far, Luqa, Tigne, Ta’ Qali and other strategically important locations with the Maltese government receiving a generous rental agreement. Apart from this, the Maltese government managed to negotiate a financial package of around Lm30 million in assistance, a sum that was considered to be quite handsome considering that the initial British offer was around Lm5 million.
Incidentally, the date – 21 September 1964 – was agreed on because it was convenient for the Duke of Edinburgh who was representing the Queen. The actual negotiations for the date were only concluded at the end of July 1964, quite close to the actual ceremony itself. After clinching the agreement, Prime Minister, Dr Borg Olivier returned in triumph to Malta where he was greeted by ecstatic supporters and patriots who had long dreamt of the moment that was now about to become reality. There was much security on the actual day itself as some protesters and hotheads did attempt to create trouble and disorder, an inauspicious omen of the 70s and 80s when civil unrest became an almost weekly occurrence. However, this was a time of celebration, not animosity.
Emotions ran high as the appointed hour approached on 20 September. The day dawned bright and beautiful and the country turned up en masse for the celebrations. As the British flag was lowered and the Maltese flag ceremoniously hoisted, Redifusion commentator Effie Ciantar was heard trying to control tears of emotion. Shouts of ‘Viva Malta’ went up from the crowd who were truly free at last. The unforgettable moment that has surely remained in every person’s memory was the diminutive Borg Olivier proudly brandishing the documents of independence to the crowd as the shouts and cheers continued. The country’s economy boomed and its success proved that Malta’s cry for independence was fully justified.