In your editorial (TMID 22 September), you wrote, quite rightly, that ‘the Nationalists will not give up 1964 and, likewise, Labour will not give up Republic Day and Freedom Day. With both parties unwilling to budge, it is highly unlikely that we will hear the end of the story anytime soon.’

I remember the time when Independence Day could not be celebrated in style – on the contrary, it was always a time of violence and bloodshed when Labourite supporters never allowed Nationalists to celebrate this day as it should have been celebrated. I still remember the photo in the newspapers of Guido De Marco, who had just been violently attacked and had a bandage on his head, with his leader Giorgio Borg Olivier. Mintoff tried his best to make us forget all about Independence Day, to the point that this Day was ‘celebrated’ on a normal working-day!

Such was the state of things during those times.

Today, we celebrate not one, but five, national days: the Seventh of June (why people still refer to it in the Italian Sette Giugno beats me – yet another factor which shows how ‘un-national’ this day would be!), Independence Day (21 September), Freedom Day (31 March), Victory Day (8 September) and Republic Day (13 December).

As I stated previously, I simply have no qualms about immediately dismissing the Seventh June from the list of possible singular National Days, simply because there is nothing ‘national’ about it – just an uprising of a group of people against the British authorities which went tragically wrong.

Now comes the question: would there have been Republic Day and consequently Freedom Day without Independence Day? Oh, I know that Independence in Malta had its limitations: Elizabeth II continued to be our Queen (but does that mean that Australia is not independent? or any other Commonwealth country, for that matter?); the most prominent buildings and properties in Malta continued to be out-of-bounds for the Maltese citizens and were the headquarters of the British authorities; the Maltese continued to have a British Governor-General chosen by the British monarch – a very serious omission of Borg Olivier, if you ask me, and a feather in Dom Mintoff’s cap to have a Maltese Governor-General. However, Malta did become an independent state and that is a fact which nobody can deny.

Therefore, according to my way of thinking, of all the national days we presently have, bar 8 September, Independence Day appears to be the No. 1 National Day and the National Day that we should be celebrating as such.

There is, however, a big ‘however’. As in everything that has to do with the term ‘national’, agreement on a National Day simply cannot be imposed on the people – it has to be accepted, and here I am echoing the wise words of Dr Guido de Marco. Similar to language, you simply cannot decide on behalf of the people. Language changes have to be accepted by the people in their daily usage, as otherwise such changes will remain in the grammar-books. Similarly, agreement on a National Day cannot be simplified or corrupted by some sort of package-agreement between the party in government and the party in opposition. Neither should it be the case of a government with a wafer-thin majority trying to impose its will on an opposition which, as time goes by, is fast being recognised as a government-in-waiting (albeit undeservedly so and totally unprepared!) by all and sundry.

Not only that. However, the Nationalist Party has not been too kind to Independence Day by constantly and gleefully celebrating it alone, year in, year out, thus making it appear as if it were the party’s symbol. Let us admit it: whether you like it or not – and this is another fact – Independence Day has always been solely celebrated by the Nationalists and, for all intents and purposes, it is seen as ‘belonging to the Nationalists’! One can say that it is certainly only celebrated by the PN due to incidents which took place in recent history. That notwithstanding, Independence Day is seen as such.

It is however very remiss of the Partit Laburista, on the other hand, to ignore Independence Day and not give it the respect that it deserves. It does not even take part in recognising its significance. But that is the PL all over: it never recognises anything that is achieved by the PN and that, in itself, is a great negative point that it has and that it will continue carrying: I will not say anything about Dom Mintoff – we have been there and back! – Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici I will choose to ignore, but Alfred Sant and certainly Joseph Muscat were and are the kind of people that I would have imagined would drive their party – as leaders – to at least give Independence Day what it truly deserves! Alas, this was not to be.

All this convinces me, at least, that Independence Day can never become a real National Day. And this, to my mind, is unfortunate.

That leaves us with one possibility – the 8 September, Victory Day. I feel, and believe, along with Kenneth Zammit Tabona, that this day should be the one and only National Day. Firstly, it has always been celebrated by all the Maltese as National Day, prior to Independence Day. Secondly, there would have been no Independence Day were it not for Victory Day. Victory Day is, if you want, the ‘mother’ of all National Days – it is certainly the senior one, historically speaking. Malta has been through a lot, and its history is rife with sieges, plunderings, invasions, what-have-you. And Victory Day, to my mind, celebrates all these. It is a very traditional day in our young Republic and it is worth bringing the Maltese people together on this National Day which has no other contestant as regards the unity it brings with it. Thirdly, it happens to be well-placed in the Maltese calendar, quite unlike all other National Days, and very easy to celebrate – the traditions are all there and have been set in stone by time and not by circumstances and political muscle-flexing.

I therefore echo what many people are saying and give my vote for the 8th September as Malta’s true, unifying and singular Nation Day.

Franco Farrugia

Pieta