Both our Constitution and its constitutional twin, the independent state of Malta, are in their 50th year of existence; both were born on the stroke of midnight on September 21, 1964. Yet while independence is celebrated, one can anticipate that there will practically be no celebration of the Constitution’s landmark anniversary when it does in fact become 50.
This contrasts with other important states such as Italy and the United States of America, to name but two which yearly dedicate a feast to their respective constitutions. To both of these nations their constitution is an integral part of their statehood and national identity.
Yet there is much reason to celebrate the first 50 years of the Constitution of Malta.
Not many newly independent states may boast that their constitutions managed to maintain for so long those democratic ideals and institutions which their original independence constitutions had planned for them. To those unfortunate states, independence became increasingly akin to dictatorship and tyranny within their first decade of independence.
Our Constitution, on the contrary, has ensured the democratic election of an unbroken line of 11 consecutive legislatures. More fundamentally, it oversaw the peaceful transition of power in each of the five times the electoral polls had decided for a change in the ruling party.
Not only. The Constitution has managed to regulate successfully the unique political climate brought about by Malta’s electing only two parties to Parliament.
The Nationalist and Labour parties have filled our parliamentary spectrum for the entire post-independence period. And consensus is not easy with its political body divided into two, thereby creating a ‘with us or against us’ environment.
And divided down the line politically we are. In the 11 elections held after independence, the score stands at six victories for the Nationalists and five for Labour. Both parties have enjoyed a consecutive stint in power of 15 years.
The Nationalists may boast 29 years in power to Labour’s 17, yet the 12-year gap is distorted by Alfred Sant’s administration not completing its five-year mandate.
The gap, however, is shortening daily, and Labour’s nine-seat record majority means it could level the score both of elections won and of years in power at the 2008 elections, PN permitting.
There is much reason to celebrate the first 50 years of the Constitution of Malta
It can never be the function of a Constitution to change this established reality, and if it tried to do so artificially it would certainly pay the price with its own dismissal. Its function is to regulate the political reality of any state and to give it democratic structure.
The Constitution has, of course, at times found itself in grave difficulties in managing the two-party political divide, especially when one party is tempted to bring about constitutional change single-handedly.
Suffice to mention the period between 1971 and 1974, when the government of the day self-avowedly refused to compose the Constitutional Court for three years, and even attempted to change the Constitution without the support of two-thirds majority of the House to get the Opposition to agree to constitutional reform.
Yet at the last minute, a new constitutional consensus was formed, with two-thirds of Parliament approving the amendments to the Constitution accompanying the transition of Malta to a Republic in 1974.
The amendments did much more: they introduced the automatic composition of the Constitutional Court, preventing Malta from ever ending again without its highest court functioning, and for the first time, protected constitutional supremacy by the two-thirds majority.
The lasting effect of the 1974 amendments lay in that for the first time, there was bi-partisan constitutional consensus within the two-party Parliament, with both parties identifying themselves fully with the Constitution as the highest expression of national consensus.
The two-party Parliament resorted to the Constitution to seal other vital bi-partisan agreements. Arguably none was more vital than the 1986 ‘majority’ amendments to the electoral system preventing any recurrence of the 1981 ‘perverse electoral result’, and the introduction of Malta’s neutrality clause.
Reform remains fundamental for the future of our Constitution; however, it needs be based on the fundamentals of the existing constitutional consensus which has worked over the past 50 years .
We all need to identify which are those fundamentals that make the Maltese nation what it is, and how to make the institutions respond better to these needs.
The one area where the Constitution is in duty bound to contrast the two-party political divide is in protecting the fundamental human rights of the individual, safeguarded by constitutional supremacy and an independent judiciary against any attempts by the State to violate them.
In terms of constitution-building, the first 50 years of a constitution may represent only its infancy, and therefore it ultimately depends on the Maltese to promote the values of constitutional democracy found in our Constitution and to add to them so that our Constitution may pass from its infancy to its adolescent stage in the coming 50 years.