Summer is almost over, parliament will soon reconvene, and most of us will go back to their hectic routine. The Nationalist Party is currently holding its annual Independence Day celebrations. In a few days Malta will be celebrating its 45th Independence anniversary, and its 45th so-called birthday as a nation. It’s interesting to note that 45 years after the event, one finds Labour Party supporters who are ready to confirm and accept Independence Day as our National Day but others are still a bit bitter about this joyous and remarkable event.

What started off as a personal pique by Mintoff, which turned into spite and grudge, has been passed on from generation to generation of Labour supporters. It’s sad, but that was the mindset of the tribal mentality of certain personalities in past local politics. I augur that this mentality will continue to change and we will all look at this day from the real significance of this historical day as the birth of our nation.

Birth of a nation

In a normal country, Independence Day is the day celebrated as the birth of a nation. It would be the natural choice when people celebrate together their identity and their own nationhood. Look at the United States: 4 July is the biggest event in the year. They are so proud and humble to be recognised as a nation even though they are the most powerful country in the world.

But why not in a tiny country like Malta? Is it not the time that this anniversary is welcomed by everyone? Is it not the time to see how the top officials of the Labour Party can manage to convince their fleet about the importance of having Independence Day as our National Day?

45 years of achievement

In these 45 years we have made huge progress and achieved results, which are quite impressive for a small country with no natural resources. If you try to compare Malta today, with such a diversified economy, to Malta 45 years ago, when it was simply a military base, one would be bewildered. Mind you, 45 years ago we had quite significant dozes of scaremongers and people who predicted all doom and gloom, when the Independence Day was becoming a reality.

Does it not sound similar to the EU membership? How is it that the Labour Party always predicted some kind of failure, whenever Malta had to choose a clear strategic path for its own future?!

This is the fundamental difference between the Nationalist and Labour parties. The PN constantly believes in the ability of the Maltese as a whole and also of individuals, while the Labour leadership always thought that we would not make it in these new scenarios and challenges, whether Independence or EU membership. Only the MLP leadership knew what’s best for us, much more than what we ourselves wanted or at least wanted.

First anniversary of the financial crisis

This September is the first anniversary of the start of the financial crisis around the world. It all started with the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, and the chain of events seemed impossible to stop at the tame. All the major corporations were vulnerable, and even nations stared to collapse. Iceland is the most notorious case. Other EU countries were badly hit such as Hungary, Latvia, the UK, and Spain. In the latter, property market has collapsed. In the US the property market has dropped more than 50 per cent.

Unfortunately in Malta we are feeling the negative effects of all this. We are an open economy, and obviously our export markets are going through deep recessions. The economy is going to contract during this year. The government, quietly, and without a lot of fanfare is constantly on the watch out working with sensitive sectors like manufacturing and tourism to help them out. This also had a negative effect on our deficit, but the priority of the Gonzi administration is to guarantee jobs.

Labour, more interested in depicting a situation of gloom, keep on coming out with contradictory statements, aimed at gaining political mileage from the global recession, even if they shoot themselves in the foot half of the time. Typical of Labour media, they quote data from different statistics and reports out of context to create sensational news at their ‘fiction’ news unit.

IMF report

At the beginning of this month the IMF board discussed the Article IV for Malta. The report highlighted the success and achievements of Malta which have been achieved since joining the EU and later adoption of the Euro. The IMF report praises Malta for its diversified economy and the healthy financial sector, which in a way have cushioned the impact of the global crisis on the Maltese economy. The IMF report includes also some advice as regards fiscal consolidation, labour costs and productivity.

So basically this is the month which shall lead us to another year of busy activity. Hopefully, the country will stay on course. So far the effect of the recession has been restricted, as noted by the International Monetary Fund itself.

Most importantly is that we keep on humbly working for the success of this nation, which is celebrating its 45th year of Independence.

Our work will be the guarantee that our children will live in a country that offers a great future in an Independent, democratic and economically stable environment.

David Agius is the government whip