Today, Republic Day, represents an important date in Maltese history.

47 years on, the country stops to commemorate the day when Malta shorn itself of its ties to the British crown – even if its ties to the British military would only be shorn five years later – by declaring itself a Republic.

That effectively means that the official head of state was no longer the monarch of the day (who is still, incidentally the same monarch even now) but was a Maltese President.

It was another step of Malta’s de-colonisation process.  It’s a step which other countries followed, even up to this day – Barbados only a couple of weeks ago declared itself a Republic, thereby removing its last remaining ties with the British monarchy – or are yet to even take, such as in the case of Australia.

Becoming a republic brought about a certain level of national reckoning.  While in the post-independence era, the top head of state was still the British monarch – represented by a governor-general, the post-Republic era saw the framing of the same issues in different manners, and gave power – albeit non-executive – to someone representing Malta and the Maltese.

The President’s role, while largely ceremonial, has been – and continuously remains – one which has found itself at the centre of certain Maltese debates. 

Lawrence Gonzi’s decision to nominate a person from the opposing political camp – George Abela – to be President was one which caused much discussion, for instance.

Current President George Vella has found himself – or inserted himself – in the centre of some significant issues dominating the Maltese landscape, such as the PN’s leadership free-fall – where he was summoned into action by some of the party’s dissenting MPs, the cannabis issue – where NGOs and organisations have pleaded with him not to sign the proposed legalisation of cannabis into law, and the abortion issue – where Vella himself has said that he would resign rather than sign the legalisation of abortion into law.

Nowadays, Republic Day has been at the centre of other debates. One which is frequently brought up is on which national holiday should be identified as Malta’s ‘National Day’.  This is an ongoing debate, and one where opinions very much differ.

It’s also a day which will see the President give what is generally regarded to be his most important address of the year.  President Vella has frequently drawn attention to various issues of significance in his speeches – such as on the environment and even on corruption, although he has not spoken too directly about who exactly is responsible for such corruption – so one waits to see what will characterise his speech this year.

Even as time has passed – 47 years, to be precise – Republic Day therefore still holds its significance in the make-up of our country.