Towards a higher level of political debate

History has given our country both religious and political feasts. The more important religious feasts are of course Good Friday and Christmas Day. Both days are the crux of the Christian religion and are feasts which are celebrated wherever Christianity is the cornerstone of popular religion.

St Paul's status as the spark of our Christian heritage is marked annually across the island. This devotion to our Christian heritage, we also feel on December 8 when we celebrate the Immaculate Conception. The date of August 15 carries with it a heritage commemorated in a number of parishes and celebrates a kinship we share with most of our Mediterranean neighbours in our devotion to our mothers: di mamma c'e n'e una sola! We all feel for the man who was St Joseph, a hard worker striving for his family. The feast of Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (Mnarja) is a feast that is re-enacted in the true sense of the word: a feast of food and agricultural produce.

The national holidays which do not fall within the sphere of religion carry their own significance and political impetus. The Sette Gunju holiday is one that falls fairly and squarely within the realm of patriotism since it commemorates the famous bread riots of 1919 and remembers all those Maltese who have over the years lain down their lives for the betterment of our nation.

September 21 is altogether different and is a commemoration of the constitutional severance from Britain. Malta became a fledgling democracy in its own right with its own political nuances locally and internationally. With Republic Day on December 13, this was taken one step further. Politically we took our independence further in its totality with our Republican Constitution and President as our Head of State. March 31 rendered importance in practical terms to the needs of our country to state categorically that we were no longer a country dependant on war as Malta had, realistically, always been to a large or lesser extent. That place was taken by the manufacturing industry, the service industry and agriculture.

May 1 is of course observed internationally and is a mark of respect to the worker. Then there is the Vitorja. This feast is especially important historically in our calendar since it marks a number of historical events starting with the victory of the Great Siege by the Knights of St John and carrying on through the surrender of Italy during WWII in 1943. It is also a feast which is connected the the Nativity of Mary and is celebrated as such, Marija Bambina, in a number of localities in Malta and Gozo.

The call for one national holiday is a call for national unity that has been made by both sides of the political divide. George Abela's nomination as President is a clear step forward in the search for national unity. It is necessarily utopian to suggest that we may have national unity in everything. The essence of a vibrant democracy is that through our differences, debate ensues with the final result being a choice made hopefully in the right direction. What is central to the national holiday debate is that there are no sacred cows. No one date is the prerogative of one political party or other. Each may feel one date may have contributed more than the other but that is really not the point of the discussion. It is time to move on.

It might serve us best to disregard from the outset those dates which have been divisive rather than unifying factors in our political framework. I say this not for theoretical or political reasons but for simple reasons of practicality. Where we already know we cannot agree then it is wiser to avoid confrontation and stick to what will unite us. Needless to say there will be some who will attempt to derail the process. There are many who thrive on divisiveness and refuse to see change as an option. This has to stop.

Let us take political debate to the next, higher, level.