It so happens that in 2024, Malta will be celebrating 60 years of Independence, 50 years since it became a Republic, 45 years since British troops left the island in what has become known as Freedom Day, and 20 years since it joined the European Union.
Three of the occasions are national holidays which, added to the Sette Giugno (7 June) and Victory Day (8 September), make up Malta’s long list of five such occurrences put together so as not to offend either of the two bigger parties.
Malta is the only country in the world which is listed as having five national holidays, a feat that is the perfect example of the division that exists in the political field. A few other countries have two national days, and the closest nations to us in this respect are South Korea, North Korea, Hungary, and India, all of which have three. But the great majority of nations have just one.
It is not the intention of this editorial to spark another debate on whether we should have one national day or, at most, two. But we must say that this five-day compromise puts us to shame, even because it is always apparent that on each of the politically-associated national days, it is only half the country that celebrates, while the other half is simply happy with a holiday away from work. There is nothing “national” at all about them as a result of the partisan mentality that was fostered in the 1960s and 1970s and which is still prevalent today.
We have a situation which sees the Nationalist Party associated with two of the major anniversaries – Independence and European Union membership; while the Labour Party is strongly linked with Republic Day and Freedom Day. This is why, perhaps, in the past the idea of having 8 September as the only national holiday had been floated, given that it has no partisan connections.
The PN plays down the significance of Republic Day and Freedom Day, so much so that in his end of year message last week, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech did not mention either of them as being significant milestones, while at the same time highlighting the Independence and EU membership round-figure anniversaries to be celebrated this year. Grech’s omission of Republic Day did not go unnoticed, and it did not help to build bridges.
The Labour Party does the opposite, focusing on Republic Day and Freedom Day as being the height of the country’s recent history, while minimising Independence Day (there was a time, when Labour was in government in the 1970s and 1980s, that Independence Day was not even a holiday, and it was only reinstated as such when the PN returned to power in 1987) and European Union membership.
The Labour Party had taken an adamant stand against EU membership, preferring a partnership accord which had however been rejected in a referendum in 2003. The PL – party and government – reaps the benefits of such membership, but it has a very strange and distant relationship with whatever is EU-related. Its defiance with regard to the selling of Maltese citizenship is just one example of this strained bond.
Independence, Republic and Freedom Days, as well as Malta’s European Union membership, are all important chapters in our recent history and have served to shape the Malta we live in today, but until we stop bickering from a partisan point of view it will be impossible to change things. That we have not yet come to terms on how to resolve this particularity is a blight on our national pride.
So far it is not known how these anniversaries will be celebrated this year. It is not known if the official events will be similar to what we have become accustomed to in recent years, or whether there is a plan to do something on a bigger scale which, in our opinion, would be more appropriate.
What would be wrong is if greater attention is given to one or two of the anniversaries while downplaying the others. It would be a sad day for Malta if the authorities decide to, for example, create something special for the 50th anniversary of Republic Day while doing nothing in particular for the 60th anniversary of Independence Day.
We are sure that the Labour Party will give greater meaning to 31 March and 13 December this year, while the PN will see that 21 September is celebrated in bigger style, but on a national level these events should be placed on an equal footing.