We have been having no less than five national days in Malta for far too long now. Il-Vittorja, Sette Giugno, Freedom Day, Independence Day and Republic Day to date are all marked as national day celebrations in Malta. This surely contrasts starkly with the United Kingdom and Denmark that do not have and do not mark any national day. True, there are some countries that celebrate more than one national day, such as Bulgaria, China and Cuba, but having five is one too many.
In advocating a campaign for a single national day for Malta I would start off by defining and emphasising the importance of a country’s national day. Just going out to see the military parade or hear the concerts set up for that occasion, because “everybody does it”, is definitely not a valid answer. Deciding which national day to celebrate still lies heavily upon us. In a short span of years, we ably succeeded in demonstrating that Malta believes in the European democratic values and that it should clearly be a member of the EU. Moreover, by joining the EU as a full member we rendered null any claims or visions of any political party or movement that would otherwise have endeavoured for making Malta an independent and neutral sovereign Republic.
A single national day should be the most important national event in our calendar which we should celebrate as an expression of the need to preserve all the concepts of unity, friendliness, peace and brotherhood between the members of society and to express their love for each other and their good leadership. The importance of such a national day should stem from reminding the new generations of all the achievements of their predecessors and being keen to instil cultural values in the hearts of young generations to move forward in the same steps, to provide the best picture of Malta in all international forums and to raise awareness about the need to preserve national unity. It should serve as an important reminder for all Maltese to appreciate the importance of unity and strengthen their love of the country. Taking that particular National Day as a point of reference we would then need to continuously emphasise the importance of educating the young generation on the sacrifices and contribution of our past leaders.
Attempts to split Maltese along political, social, linguistic or other lines must no longer be allowed as it would set the country back. Marking a single national day would promote diversity, make sure people respect others and prevent political, racial, cultural, religious and other issues from being exploited. The national leaders, including everyone, should focus on further building the nation and strengthening the economy, to focus on how to make the nation great again. We must be prepared to move on.
Coming back to our five national days, I consider them all as a series of successive events leading up to that special day of 31 March 1979, celebrated as Freedom Day, on which Malta took full control of its future from all aspects. Without the four previous important historical dates, Malta would never have been able to embark on a new roadmap that eventually gave us a rightful European dimension and full sovereignty as to our future. Those events not only reflect our history but also are the expression of our identity. At the same time they are somewhat of a paradox since on the one hand they are a visible representation of social memory and on the other hand, they show clearly the divisions that are present in our society today. A single national day should have the power to unite us but continuing to have five national days risks separating us.
The Great Siege had an essential impact on the formation of the Maltese identity. The religious component of the identification (Christianity, which also meant affiliation to the European cultural circle) was highlighted due to a negative identity – that is the creation of the image of “us” by opposing it to the image of “them”. The Ottoman (Muslim) invasion showed the Maltese the features they shared with the rest of Europe. In the face of danger, common characteristics of the Maltese were strengthened. In political terms, however, the siege strengthened the position of the Order, both internationally and locally.
The 1919 riots united the Maltese people as a nation. The distinction between the Maltese (“us”) and the British (“them”) showed not only the difference between the two nationalities but also highlighted common features of the Maltese as a “national community”.
Independence Day marked the draft of a new constitution proposed by the government and subjected to a referendum. The Maltese people voted in favour. Later on the new constitution of Malta, together with the Financial Agreement and the Defence Agreement, were presented to the British Parliament that eventually approved the Malta Independence Act.
1974 was simply a change from a monarchy to a republic, and in 1979 Malta ceased to be a military base and adopted the policy of neutrality and non-alignment.
The historical events reflected in the Maltese national days above show some aspects of the identity formation process. In this context, especially, two levels of the Maltese people’s identity can be seen clearly: national identity and state identity.
Today we find ourselves once again challenged to explore what it is to be Maltese and to reflect on how we celebrate our national life. Like many other nations, one of the ways we seek to celebrate being "us" is through the observance of a national day. Talk of constitutional reform is rife these days, and should we ever come round to drafting a new constitution and establishing a new republic, then perhaps that day could easily be an obvious choice of our national day. It would acknowledge a figurative “starting line”, a sense of inclusion and exclusion and boundedness that is vital to every nation’s identity.
Dr Mark Said is an advocate