It is said that history is written by those who hanged heroes. Malta had quite a number of the latter, so our country has a long and mysterious but even tampered historical background.

To begin with, politics in Malta did not appear with names such as Gerald Strickland, Paul Boffa, Nerik Mizzi, Dom Mintoff or George Borg Olivier. It started long before that, actually during a time when the Maltese themselves did not even have a say on what affected their daily lives. They were just the servants of a long line of political rulers.

The irony of it all is that when we were being ruled by other nations we were undoubtedly a more united population than when we started being governed by our own Maltese subjects. Sadly, when the Maltese political parties took over the scene, we diverted most of our anger and energy from our past foreign rulers to our own selves.

Yes, I meant exactly that: today, we are a divided nation in many aspects.

Sadder than that is a future where local politics will be turned into a form of a personal self-image objective rather than an objective to heal the country’s and people’s wounds. One fine day, when patriotism will die, the country’s image and national respect will be a doorstop away from the burial ground.

Malta, being geographically isolated in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, became an infamous isle abused by many foreign masters but not just that. For many years, it also became a tough place to live in for Maltese families.

In the Middle Ages, Count Roger of Sicily may have protected the Maltese people from the Arabs but then brought on us new and severe hardships.

The Arabs may have regaled us with various trades and skills but then tried to strip us of our spiritual rights.

Under the French, many more civil liberties and laws were enacted but they played rough with our heritage and looted most of our national treasures.

Then, the British arrived. They may have relieved us from a Napoleonic tyranny and taught us their language but they fiddled badly with our freedom and wanted us only as their servants and never as their equals.

Truth be told, the post-WWII years were dark and hard for Malta and the Maltese. The island’s infrastructure was in shambles and political parties were still in their infancy. The Brits ruled over us with an iron hand and, in matters of foreign policy, which was in their hands, they protected their own national interest not ours. In such times, various parties incorporating local patriots, heroes and even spies and traitors rose from the ashes of our rebellious ancestors.

It seemed that the Maltese were for once united behind one true goal: that of achieving their own freedom. That is why achievements such as Independence Day by Dr Borg Olivier in 1964 and then Freedom Day by Mr Mintoff in 1979 will remain as the two most important dates in Maltese history.

Perhaps the new generation of men and women may not remember or even appreciate any of these events and achievements but they ought to know that the freedoms and privileges they are celebrating today are the fruits of those achieved in yesteryear.

The world has changed and is continually changing. The Soviet Union, the Cold War, Communism and even Fascism are a thing of the past but it will be a big mistake if we just close our eyes and forget about them.

Many archaic laws that do not make any sense in this day and age need to be revamped and adopted to the new realities of our life. Nevertheless, a lot more needs to be changed in many sectors of life, especially in 2012 Malta were the Church authorities are still seen as an obstacle for that same change.

The two main political forces – the Labour and the Nationalist parties – have, each in their own way, both worked on a platform for Malta to advance and progress. However, and this is just my opinion, the Nationalists were, on many occasions, using infrastructural projects as a means of progress and also as a bargaining chip to get re-elected to power. Promises worked wonders when Malta’s infrastructure and technology needed a good boost. Today, that same old game seems to have been exhausted as a more tech savvy and apolitical generation of youngsters is rising.

On the other end, the PL, a party which was born from a tough generation of hard-working men and women, focused more on social progress and liberties. The mass of social services introduced under Mr Mintoff’s premiership was perhaps the greatest social revolution that the Maltese families had ever experienced at the time. But, then, I guess that not every citizen, depending in which class s/he formed part of back then and is in today, can truly understand what that meant for the thousands of poor and desperate families of that era.

At present we hear of the loyalty that may have been and still is expected by political parties from members. As I remarked earlier, times have truly changed and perhaps today the only “currency” that any political party can bank on and which can be exchanged for precious loyalty is God’s own currency known as fairness.