Newspapers recently reported how fallacious students were in our country’s history in their exams. Some wrote that Napoleon ruled Malta in the 1970s and Strickland was mixed with Mintoff. Joseph Grech when answering to my article ‘How politics shouldn’t be’ was also very fallacious in his vision of our history.
Our only history book in school was written by a priest during colonial rule and was very much in favour of the British version of things. Till now nobody has written another book stating the real facts, except for Edgar Mizzi and his book The Making of Malta. Remiġ Sacco’s book is also very interesting and informative.
History can have several versions. It depends upon the author’s vision and political slant. The victorious warring factions always have the last say, but does this show the real history?
Malta’s political history goes a long way further back than the 1970s. Long years were lost on the language issue. The Nationalists wanted Italian as the main Maltese language, the Constitutional Party wanted English, and the Labour Party wanted Maltese. The colonial government at the time was worried that Malta would join Italy.
In Malta we started copying the Camicia Nera in our two Italian schools with children as young as four starting to wear the black fascist shirts and saluting in fascist style. The colonial government became worried and brought over to Malta in 1932 the Lord Asquit Commission to decide on the language issue.
In 1934, it decreed that English and Maltese should be our national language, but it was only when the first Italian bombs fell on Fort St Elmo and killed seven Maltese soldiers that the language issue was finally settled.
The colonial government in the 1930s did intervene when a certain drunkard was used by the Nationalist Party in making a false oath in the company of the then Nationalist Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice by saying he had seen Gerald Strickland wearing a Mason’s frock. The Church authorities on election day permitted political people to enter their churches and put these false statements on the chairs.
Our history needs to be properly written and taught in our schools. Our children have a right to a proper history
One has also to keep in mind that a Nationalist canvasser shot and hit Strickland in court.
The colonial government interfered in our political system by siding with Strickland.
Not so when in 1961 the colonial government left unhindered, thus indirectly supporting the Church’s condemnation – the interdiction – of all those who supported or wanted to vote for the Labour Party. This condemnation was supported by the Nationalists’, Ganado’s, Pellegrini’s and Strickland’s parties. They were all gathered under the Church’s umbrella, which George Borg Oliver very craftily took over.
Labour supporters’ homes were bypassed by priests doing house visits to distribute the Bulletin to show they were Catholics. Labourites were spit upon and their employment stopped by the kind Catholic/political people. The homes of Labour supporters were also invaded as happened in Żebbuġ, where families were beaten up.
Church bells were rung whenever a Labour political meeting was in progress. This had also happened to Strickland in Qala. Labourites were also buried in unholy ground under both the British colonial and Nationalist administrations.
Therefore for anyone to write that everything wrong and improper started under the Labour Party in the 1970s is in error and totally misleading.
This was how unreal and unfair the general elections of 1962 and 1966 were. Gerrymandering was introduced in the 1971 elections when the Nationalist Party introduced a system where five districts elected six candidates instead of five. Only three to five votes in the fifth electoral district decided the Labour win, although Labour had over 5,000 more votes overall. The fifth district result was contested with three recounts by the Nationalist Party who wanted to keep power. The contestations were made by Carmelo Caruana, Guido DeMarco and Censu Tabone.
Attard mentioned how unfair the pension system is. The treasury pension system was initiated by the colonial government. It paid good wages to British expatriates but didn’t want the same conditions for Maltese workers. So a bright mind came up with the idea that locals will be paid much less but would benefit from a pension when reaching the age of 61. In this way the colonial government saved millions of pounds.
In 1964 the Nationalist government decreed that self-employed can, on a voluntary basis, pay national insurance contributions and receive a pension at the age of 61. Not many did, and this was only for the self-employed.
When Labour took over in 1971 all coffers were empty. The working week was of 48 hours. Women in government employment were dismissed when they got married on the excuse that only men were family providers.
Social Service benefits were calculated on the fields a person had in his/her name even if not worked, goats or sheep, chickens, even the pigeons were calculated. So in the majority of cases no benefits were given.
This is where Gaddafi came in. It was also in Libya’s interest to help Malta get rid of the British. He gave Malta all the financial assistance it needed to survive. We did. Malta also got rid of Nato.
Labour revised the agreements done by the former government and took over our airport and air space, ports, financial services and also telecommunications. Also, we became a Republic with our own head of State.
As for if Labour was against Independence, one should revisit the facts. It was Labour that first came up with the idea of independence. Labour voted for independence during the 1962 discussions in London. It left the talks as it persisted with its stand against certain conditions that the Nationalists and the other political parties were ready to accept but Labour wasn’t.
The other political parties at these talks even proposed that the archbishop would be over and above the Maltese Constitution. It was the British who out manoeuvred this proposal by directly talking with the Vatican authorities without the Nationalist government’s knowledge.
Labour in government introduced the 40-hour week, bonuses, women’s right to employment even when married, the minimum wage, housing, the distribution of building plots and numerous social services.
Until 1979, only civil service employees enjoyed a Treasury pension. These were a few thousands. The rest of the workers received nothing. The Labour government decided that all workers, the widowed, women who stayed at home, were to receive a pension or social benefits.
I can still see Drydocks workers in 1979 who had reached 61 years, standing by Cospicua Gate as work colleagues passed “three pence”, “sixpence” or a “shilling” into their hands.
The Labour Party was right in providing pensions to everyone. On the other hand a few thousand suffered by having one of their two pensions reduced. This issue is still with us to the present day. But it is not just service pensioners but all who had two pensions had a reduction.
What I believe was decided wrongly was the issue of workers who voluntary chose and had established with their employers a voluntary system of paying a part of their pay for a future additional pension. The contributions of sixpence in the pound were shared by the employee and the employer. This was disregarded. This was a wrong decision.
I also believe that this system will be reintroduced in the near future.
As for Grech’s reference to Tal-Barrani, I always believed this was a political trap laid very wisely by the Nationalist Party. Nationalist leaders planned this and indirectly sacrificed their supporters to violent elements. On the other hand some Labour leaders swallowed their bait. One incident Nationalist sympathisers fail to report about is a van full of firearms that were distributed to thugs at this protest march.
One must also repeat Labour’s argument: “How is it that the regular and continuous bombings disappeared once their party took over government?”
Not all that glitters is golden.
With all our faults our islands made large steps forward. What I have written today is about facts and not half-truths. Our history needs to be properly written and taught in our schools. Our children should and have a right to a proper history of what really happened in our islands in the past.
Everybody has the right to know what life was like – of what we had to pass through – how our political and social lives were affected through these short years of when we, the Maltese, took over the destiny of our islands.
It is in a person’s nature to regard his point of view as absolutely right. But if one looks into a mirror, then perhaps one would also see the defects.
I do hope that in our politics, history and life, all can aspire for a better future and be more tolerant with each other’s point of view.