This year we commemorate 50 years of independence, 40 years since Malta was declared a republic, 35 years since the closure of the British military facilities in Malta and 10 years of European Union membership.
Another event we remember every year is September 8, the day that honours the victory of the Great Siege by the Knights of St John against the Turks in 1565 and the day Italy surrendered during World War II.
The story of September 8 as Malta’s national feast is a complex one. In 1885, Fortunato Mizzi suggested this date as Malta’s national day. As a British colony we did not have a national day. Nothing happened until 1923 when the Nationalist government legislated that September 8 was to be commemorated officially.
Independence Day, September 21, a day Dom Mintoff never accepted, was proclaimed a national day while September 8 also remained a national day. A year after Mintoff was elected, in June 1972, he decided to do away with Independence Day and commemorate only September 8. For Mintoff it was absurd and laughable to have two national days.
However, when on December 13, 1974, Parliament approved the amendments to the Independence Constitution and declared December 13 as Republic Day, September 8 lost its status as a national day and public holiday. Furthermore, when in 1979 the last British Royal Navy ship sailed out of Grand Harbour, the Mintoff government declared March 31 as Freedom Day, another national holiday.
In the meantime, the Nationalist Party took it upon itself to commemorate Independence Day. This was an event that brought together not only Nationalist Party supporters, but also the majority of Maltese who were convinced that September 21, 1964, was Malta’s only birthday as a nation.
This whole anomaly was removed when Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami, in a spirit of reconciliation declared the following as national festivities: September 21 as Independence Day; December 13 as Republic Day; March 31 as Freedom Day; September 8 as Victory Day and June 7 as Sette Giugno.
Thus, September 8 took its place again among the events that shaped our history and our nation.
Last year we should have commemorated 90 years since September 8 was declared our national day. Let us hope that the victory over the Turks of 1565 and the victory over the Axis powers in 1943 will keep on reminding us that freedom should never be taken for granted.