As the matter of setting up a Council for Maltese Living Abroad as an advisory body to the Maltese government was publicly aired, I submit these comments to the general Maltese readership in order to reach a wider section of the community. Such approach should hopefully increase its democratisation process.
As my contribution to this initial pre legislation invitation, I wish to highlight the following observations.
Basing my comments on the official literature concerning the Maltese government’s intentions, made available to interested parties, both directly and through our ethnic press in Australia, I submit the following.
This proposed method of consultation with the respective communities through established community groups in its present explorative form, with respect, lacks certain provisions. Not all Maltese associations are affiliated to the so-called umbrella groups. In NSW, Australia, the La Valette Social Centre, one of the more significant Maltese community groups in the whole of Australia, is neither represented on the Maltese Community Council of NSW and neither was it present at the 2010 Convention.
Belonging to a particular Maltese community group is no guarantee that the most capable individuals will be forthcoming. Many of these community groups have consistently shown a penchant towards favouritism and/or sticking to “dead wood” owing to lack of interest in positions of responsibilities (executive and subcommittees) within their respective membership.
Consulting merely with established groups within the various pockets of Maltese scattered throughout the continent of Australia, (as well as other countries) again excludes − (i) recognised and renowned individuals, who by dint of their commitment over a long period of time, have consistently contributed to the well being of the Maltese community without necessarily belonging to any particular group, and (ii) newcomers with promising potential. The exclusion of category (i) individuals is clearly undesirable when these have left their indelible mark with a list of achievements, sometimes even as pioneers in a particular sphere.
In this respect I suggest that provisions be made in the proposed legislation by introducing a clause to accommodate such interested individuals, enabling them to be represented. This approach will enrich the overall input. These candidates should have equal voting rights like all other delegates. While such provision will be all the more inclusive and fair, I do not foresee this measure as opening the floodgates to every Charlie and Mary who come along. A proven record of one’s claims should be a prerequisite for qualifying.
Furthermore, the authorities in Malta must endeavour to understand that the various committee members from where the delegates will be selected DO NOT reflect the entire Maltese community, not even when drawn together under an umbrella Community Council. These can only ever purport to represent and reflect the hopes, desires, ambitions, fears and anxieties of the members of their particular group. There are several more unrepresented tens of thousands of Maltese out yonder who are not and never have been affiliated to any Maltese group. Hence the added relevance and importance of proved activists.
In addition to the above, as one who has actually delved through formal research into the historicity of Maltese migration, the results of which work have been substantiated by international publications, as well as being a consistent activist in the Australian Maltese community for many decades, there exists a repeated exclusion of certain Maltese communities that have not previously been considered and/or represented. I have in mind the Maltese of Gibraltar, those of Istanbul and Smyrna in Turkey, the Maltese of the south of France (Marseilles), those of Malta’s closest neighbour Italy, of South Africa, Tunisia, Libya, perhaps even Israel (depending on the actual numbers) and wherever else there may be pockets of Maltese (Morocco?, the south of Egypt?, Zimbabwe?, Brazil?, Spain?).
Historically, I reiterate my reminder, which I specifically highlighted at the 2010 Convention, that it was the Franco Maltese (Gozitan) intellectual Laurent Ropà who first mooted the formation of a formal international Maltese corps, very similar in sentiment to this pending event! It would benefit all to bear his name in mind as a symbolic beacon, keeping in mind that he was neither a politician nor a cleric!
Furthermore, as a new body of this age, in this brave but often foolhardy society that humanity has bred over the centuries, we need to be just as brave and as genuine to include, without capitulation to any pressure groups, Maltese of ALL creeds and of no creed at all, as well as those of ALL political and of no political persuasion.
Roderick Bovingdon
AUSTRALIA