Last year, on 13 September, the Secretary General of the Nationalist Party, Rosetta Thake, gave an interview to this paper in which she announced that as a departure from past years, the PN’s Independence Day celebrations were to be held not on the Floriana Granaries as traditional but near the Renzo Piano Parliament.

This paper said that the Floriana Granaries have long been synonymous with the Nationalist Party’s annual Independence Day celebrations, but this year (2015)  — while still celebrating its past — the PN will also be making a break from it.

Rosette Thake, the PN’s Secretary General explains that this year’s celebrations will be held in a number of locations in Valletta, with Renzo Piano’s Parliament building being the fulcrum of the activities.

“We are very excited about this change. We believe it is very important that we do not get stuck doing things like we have always done them, but we also try to be innovative.

“Also to reflect the development of the Party’s vision in terms of the three pillars, the environment, culture and good governance. Those three pillars are reflected in our choice of venue and activities.

“Basically, the idea was that we go to a place which is new for these kinds of celebrations. We are going back to Valletta, which was used for Independence Day celebrations in the 1970s, so it is not totally new.

“We also wanted to celebrate the Renzo Piano project, which was undertaken under the last Nationalist government. It is a beautiful, world-class project which celebrates democracy.”

We all know how that ended: while the PN had argued against the Monti stalls next to Parliament, it then proceeded to set up its own stalls.

The worst was when a game of football was held next to the hallowed precincts of Parliament.

So, quite sensibly, as announced last week, the PN has reverted to the Fosos and leaving Parliament and City Gate alone. 

But then, in one and the same breath, while last summer the party had announced it would not be holding political activities and speeches during the hot months of summer, this year, as happened yesterday, it seems determined to continue with the Sunday morning political speeches/phone interviews, etc.

Of course, Parliament has just risen for its summer recess and Labour too is continuing with its Sunday morning political sermons, so the PN can hardly stop.

But the two parties must realise that the people out there want a break from politics during summer. People are on holiday, children are out of school, families are enjoying themselves, and after all, once summer is over there will be a time and a place for politics.

Besides, summer is a time for village festas and already politicians are flocking to them like bees to honey. Although we are no longer living in the bad old 1980s, all sides must take concrete steps to help defuse any residual tension deriving from politics.