The right National Day for Malta

For some reason only known to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, the topic of which should be the one and only National Day in Malta has come up yet again.

It is enlightening to note that he should have brought it up on the eve of another Independence Day. I remember the time when Independence Day could not be celebrated in style; on the contrary, it was always a time of violence and bloodshed when Labourite supporters never allowed Nationalists to celebrate this day as it should have been. I still remember the photo in the newspapers of Guido de Marco, who had just been violently attacked and had a bandage on his head, with his leader, Giorgio Borg Olivier.

Dom Mintoff tried his best to make us forget all about Independence Day, to the point that this occasion was "celebrated" on a normal working-day! Such was the state of things in those times.

Today, we celebrate not one but five national feast-days: June 7 (why people still refer to it in the Italian Sette Giugno beats me; yet another reason showing how "un-national" this day would be!); Independence Day (September 21), Freedom Day (March 31), Victory Day (September 8) and Republic Day (December 13).

I have no qualms in immediately dismissing June 7 from the list of possible singular national days simply because there is nothing "national" about it; just an uprising of a group of people against the British authorities that went tragically wrong.

Now comes the question: Would there have been Republic Day and, consequently, Freedom Day without Independence Day? I know independence in Malta had its limitations: Elizabeth II continued to be our Queen (But does that mean that Australia is not Independent or any other Commonwealth country, for that matter?); most prominent buildings and properties in Malta continued to be out of bounds to Maltese citizens and were the headquarters of the British authorities; the Maltese continued to have a British Governor-General chosen by the British monarch - a very serious omission of Dr Borg Olivier, if you ask me, and a feather in Mr Mintoff's cap to have a Maltese Governor-General.

However, Malta did become an independent state and that is a fact nobody can deny. Therefore, according to my way of thinking, of all the national days we presently have bar September 8, Independence Day appears to be the first choice for National Day and the National Day that we should be celebrating.

There is, however, a big however. As in everything that has to do with the term "national", agreement on a National Day simply cannot be imposed on the people; it has to be accepted and here I am echoing the wise words of Prof. de Marco. Similar to language, you simply cannot decide on behalf of the people. Language changes have to be accepted by the people in their daily usage as, otherwise, such changes will remain in the grammar-books.

Likewise, agreement on a National Day cannot be simplified or corrupted by some sort of package-agreement between the party in government and the party in opposition. Neither should it be the case of a government with a wafer-thin majority trying to impose its will on an opposition, which, as time goes by, is fast being recognised as a government-in-waiting (albeit undeservedly and totally unprepared!) by all and sundry.

Not only that, but the Nationalist Party has not been too kind to Independence Day by constantly and gleefully celebrating it alone, year in, year out, thus making it appear as if it were the party's symbol. One might remark that it is only celebrated by the PN due to incidents taking place in recent history.

On the other hand, it is very remiss of the PL to ignore Independence Day and not treating it with the respect it deserves or, at least, recognising its significance. But that is the PL all over: It never recognises anything achieved by the PN and that, in itself, is a great negative point it has and will continue carry. I won't say anything about Mr Mintoff; we have been there and back! Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici I will choose to ignore but Alfred Sant and, certainly, Joseph Muscat were and are the kind of people I would have imagined would drive their party - as leaders - to give Independence Day at least what it truly deserved! Alas, this was not to be.

All this convinces me that Independence Day can never become a real National Day. And this, to my mind, is unfortunate.

That leaves us with one possibility: September 8, Victory Day. I feel, and believe, along with Kenneth Zammit Tabona, that this day should be the one and only National Day. Firstly, it has always been celebrated by all the Maltese as a National Day, prior to Independence Day. Secondly, there would have been no Independence Day were it not for Victory Day.

Victory Day is, if you want, the "mother" of all national days. It is certainly the senior one, historically speaking. Malta has been through a lot and its history is rife with sieges, plundering, invasions, what-have-you. And Victory Day, to my mind, celebrates all these. It is a very traditional day in our young republic and it is worth bringing the Maltese people together on this National Day, which has no other contestant in the unity it brings with it.

Thirdly, it happens to be well-placed in the Maltese calendar, quite unlike all other national days, and very easy to celebrate. The traditions are all there and have been written in stone by time and not by circumstances and political muscle-flexing. I, therefore, echo what many people are saying and give my vote for September 8 as the true, unifying and singular Nation Day for Malta.