As long ago as the days of Plato, the concept of the republic was already a matter of debate. The debate continued in the days of the Romans and down through the ages until our own time.
...we have to immediately start working hard towards consolidating and improving the work of those who created the Republic- Desmond Zammit Marmarà
In Malta, the idea of having a republic only started forming part of a national debate in the post-colonial period.
In 1798, during the First French Republic, Napoleon Bonaparte arrived at Malta with an invasion force. His primary aim was Egypt but he also attacked Malta and managed to capture it in a few days.
Many of the ideas and concepts which the French Republicans brought with them were enlightened and progressive. Indeed, the great Maltese patriot, Mikiel Anton Vassalli, worked hand-in-hand with them.
The French Republicans were, however, highly anti-clerical and this, added to some unpopular measures of theirs, led to a Maltese uprising on September 2, 1798 and the expulsion of the French in 1800.
One wonders where Malta would be today had the French been given time to develop and consolidate a republican form of government.
The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th saw the emergence of another great Maltese patriot, Manwel Dimech (1860-1921). Dimech lived at a time when the Maltese were oppressed by the British colonial Administration. His aim was always to ameliorate the lot of his Maltese compatriots. In his writings, he even introduced the idea of the establishment of a Gozitan-Maltese Republic.
Unfortunately, Dimech’s appeal fell on deaf ears because many of the Maltese of his time lacked even a basic education, with a substantial number of them being illiterate. Such concepts as those of a republic were far beyond their comprehension. Furthermore, they had far more pressing problems to occupy their time and attention, eking out a living in miserable conditions being one of them.
However, the dream of a Maltese Republic did not die out with Dimech. It would be left to Dom Mintoff, arguably Malta’s greatest Prime Minister, to realise the dreams of Vassalli and Dimech.
Mintoff would not have succeeded in setting up the Republic of Malta without the great amount of work carried out by George Borg Olivier before him. To set up a Maltese Republic, Malta had first to obtain its independence from the British.
Borg Olivier deserves a lot of credit for his unruffled persistence in pressing the British to grant Malta independence.
However, the fact that he accepted the British Queen as Malta’s head of state after independence in 1964 remains a matter of political controversy. Mintoff was against this and believed that Malta should become a republic with a Maltese citizen as President and head of state.
The Republic of Malta was born on December 13, 1974 when 49 members of the House of Representatives voted in favour of its creation. Six Nationalist members of Parliament abstained, including the Nationalist Party leader, Borg Olivier.
The Republic of Malta was to be built on work and on the respect for the fundamental rights and liberties of the individual.
The 1974 Constitution also granted the vote to Maltese citizens aged 18 and over. Sir Anthony Mamo had the honour of becoming the first President of the Republic of Malta.
Today, 37 years later, there is a debate in Malta about how the Republic can be strengthened. Both sides of the House of Representatives are aware that the Maltese Constitution does not reflect the realities of a country that is going through rapid changes as a result of globalisation and European Union membership and where multiculturalism and secularisation have brought about social changes undreamed of several years ago.
Labour leader Joseph Muscat has proposed an all-inclusive constitutional convention that would give birth to a “Second Republic”.
The President of the Republic, George Abela, has also appealed for constitutional reform.
What is certain is that a “Second Republic” would mean consolidating and improving upon the First Republic with a greater democratisation of legislation and bringing representative democracy as near as is humanly possible, in today’s circumstances, to participative democracy.
Some of the items expected to be included in the national debate would be: neutrality; separation between Church and state; changes to the method of appointment of the President of the Republic; giving more real power to the Presidency; strengthening the autonomy of Parliament; a new electoral law; changes regarding the judiciary and reforming the broadcasting sector.
As Maltese, we should be very proud of what we have all achieved since the birth of the Republic. However, we must also realise that nothing is perfect and we have to immediately start working hard towards consolidating and improving the work of those who created the Republic. The time for change is right now.