President Emeritus, former prime minister and independence campaigner Eddie Fenech Adami tells Herman Grech why he decided to do his bit in 1964.

Just over 10 years ago, Eddie Fenech Adami stood on a podium at the Granaries in Floriana, with a backdrop of scores of young people, at the culmination of a tense EU membership campaign.

Backed by perfectly coordinated campaign teams (and musical themes), he had engineered one of the slickest electoral campaigns Malta had seen, swaying tens of thousands towards EU membership.

 

The perfectly choreographed movement was to be his last electoral campaign trail as he secured both the EU referendum and the 2003 general election.

It was an ironic culmination of sorts. Four decades earlier, Dr Fenech Adami could not resort to any technology, campaign teams or indeed the pomp, when then Prime Minister George Borg Olivier asked him to campaign in favour of independence.

Instead, Dr Fenech Adami had to rely on his rattling open-roof Fiat 500 to get his message across.

Dr Fenech Adami might have been a little known lawyer in 1964, certainly a political midget at the time, but Dr Borg Olivier felt he had what it takes to convince the masses to vote in favour of independence.

“I got into my small car, which I had bought for Lm250, and started to address crowds at different locations,” he recalls, from his summer residence in Buġibba.

Determined that Malta should strip itself of the colonial jacket for good, he resorted to a singer by the name of Carmelo Borg (known as Carmelo kanta) for help.

“I equipped my car with binoculars and an amplifier on the back seat, attached to a special microphone, which Carmelo insisted I take good care of. But after two days it stopped working! I bought another one and continued on the campaign trail,” he laughs.

“We held these meetings everywhere, including Gozo... we revolutionised corner meetings,” he said, recalling the way he used to tell anyone who bothered to listen that Malta had all the qualities to be an independent State.

It was not an easy ride. There was an entire movement against independence  there was a fear that Dom Mintoff would take an independent Malta too far to the left. Mabel Strickland’s party was dead set against cutting Britain’s umbilical cord.

“Though we never found real political obstacles, you used to notice the underhand tactics of those who feared independence. Borg Olivier trusted me and encouraged me. He was a true Nationalist, a true leader. He argued that whether we liked it or not, it was inevitable that Malta would have to become independent in a relatively short time.”

The British Empire was breaking down and it was time for Malta to also obtain its sovereignty.

I got into my small car, which I had bought for Lm250, and started to address crowds at different locations

Dr Fenech Adami points to the roots of the PN, the Partito Nazionale, which always believed Malta had the necessary qualities to become a nation, even if it was still a colony at the time.

Only independence could provide a solution to the problems Malta was facing at the time. The alternative was integration, or a version of it, which was not acceptable to anybody.

The PN insisted independence rested on four pillars: that Malta would remain a Catholic State; that it would be a member of the Commonwealth, not a republic; that fundamental human rights would be guaranteed; and that it would be a democratic State.

Malta’s size did not matter, the former prime minister stressed.

“We felt independence was the secret, the key to political and social development.”

The campaigning paid off: a referendum in May 1964 signalled Malta’s breakaway from the British empire.

With Malta’s fate sealed, the Nationalists won the next general election in 1966. But Dr Fenech Adami was hardly rewarded for his efforts  he failed to get elected.

But more than a decade later, with the PN reeling from two successive electoral defeats, the once little known lawyer succeeded Dr Borg Olivier with two major political battle cries  to make his party electable again and to inch Malta closer to Europe.

Dr Fenech Adami won the domestic battles  he secured a majority at the polls at four general elections  but EU membership was the war he could not afford to lose.

Opponents threw his 1964 battle cry back at him, and accused him of handing Malta’s independence to Brussels. The 80-year-old former president and prime minister will have none of it.

“I’ve always believed in the EU. From my university days, as a law student in the 1950s, especially when the integration idea was being floated, we were a group of students who believed in an independent Malta. We never doubted that Malta could go it alone.

“Whoever says we became dependent on Brussels is not making a correct definition of the EU. The EU is a group of independent and sovereign countries.”

He recalls the EU meetings he attended as prime minister of the bloc’s smallest state, stressing he was always made to feel he was the leader of an autonomous country who had no qualms using the same strong tone used by the heavyweight leaders.

“I’ve always asserted that Malta would have a voice in the EU, and yes we now know it does.”

In our time, there were a lot of partisan splits. Those times are gone, we have grown, we have become more proud of our nationality

Dr Fenech Adami feels Malta has grown up by leaps and bounds after it won its biggest political battles.

How has he seen Malta change in 50 years?

The government of the day, irrespective whether it is led by the Nationalists or the Labourites, acted in the best interests of Malta. This was something which had manifested itself through various governments, Dr Fenech Adami insisted.

He takes great pride in the fact both main parties are this weekend celebrating independence. For several years Labour shunned it and even refused to acknowledge it as a national holiday.

“In our time, there were a lot of partisan splits. Those times are gone, we have grown; we have become more proud of our nationality.”

Beyond the partisan bickering, he acknowledges as very positive the way the Maltese nowadays celebrate their nationality more than ever.

Does this mean we have completely rid ourselves of the colonial mentality?

“There is still a certain colonial mentality, but it’s not present in the government. It’s only present in the attitude of certain people who still embrace anything British.”

Dr Fenech Adami might have been prime minister when he named five national holidays but he is clear in his mind when asked to name what he considered to be the most significant event, which has chiselled Maltese history.

“For me, politically, it is independence, and after that EU membership. Independence marks the historical moment when we took the reins of our country in our hands. It’s the moment when we truly decided our destiny.”

And if he had to pick one national day, which would he choose?

“Independence,” is his immediate reply.

Watch excerpts of the interview on timesofmalta.com.

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