Joseph Bezzina: The Gozo Civic Council. The story of a regional government, Victoria/Gozo, Gozo Civic Council Fiftieth Anniversary Celebrations Committee, 2011, 404 pp.
Fr Joseph Bezzina presents this valuable publication recording a very important yet little known period of Gozo’s recent past.
The Gozo Council either came 50 years before its time, or we now are 50 years behind the times- Anton Tabone
This is a true account of the short-lived Gozo Civic Council from its setting up in 1961 to its dissolution in 1973. This was a historical event for Gozo and for Malta too, because though born to function solely in Gozo, the council was a national institution, relevant also to the mainland, and possibly served as a precursor to the local councils set up in Malta and Gozo in 1993.
The Gozo Civic Council was born when Malta was without its own representative government. This very anomalous situation, wherein Malta loses its national government and Gozo acquires a local one of its own, could have given rise to serious doubts and suspicions as to the real motives behind its setting up.
So, at the outset there was an urgent need to clarify matters. This had to be done by the same people who took the initiative to promote a council through which Gozo could acquire a measure of autonomy.
This clarification came soon after by the first president of the Gozo Civic Council, my father Dr Anton Tabone, when speaking at its inauguration on July 10, 1961.
He said: “Although the Civic Council is not connected to party politics, it strongly shares the sentiments of the people of Malta and Gozo for the recognition of the fundamental political rights of these islands. The episode of the Gozo Local Government should not be seen... as serving to separate the Gozitans from Malta, or that it might separate them from Malta’s national calling; that has always been and will remain Gozo’s calling too. When constitutional government returns to these islands, Gozo will proceed, as in the past, to send its parliamentary representatives to share in the responsibilities of these islands’ administration…”
Fr Bezzina is again presenting the case for Gozo’s rightful political status by recalling the efforts of a handful of public-spirited Gozitans who rallied public opinion around the concept of local government.
In fact, it was the setting up of the Gozo Civic Council, 50 years ago, that gave birth to the principle of subsidiarity and effectively put into practice the decentralisation and the devolution process in the Maltese Islands. This affirmed the basic principle that what can be decided and implemented at the closest and lowest level of the community should be administered at that level and not at a higher one.
Moreover, the setting up of the Gozo Civic Council introduced and strengthened the regional concept when it gave full expression to the island dimension of Gozo. This de-velopment highlighted the regional aspect and autonomy in the workings of Gozo’s governance. The council was born to have one single administration, regional and representative of the whole island, totally focused on its own progress within the national context.
The council had limited re-sources but was able to persuade the government and the political class to make substantial infrastructural investment in Gozo. This moral and authoritative stand exercised by the council, especially in its initial stages, when it enjoyed massive support, was probably derived from some kind of undeclared mission statement to give the island a much higher profile.
Gozo has since become more relevant in its island dimension rather than seen as a mere electoral district. This is a vital concept to understand. An electoral district is usually an artificial zone delineated by demographic exigencies which at times may be used, misused or abused, and remains essentially artificial and abstract. This definitely does not apply to Gozo, which is neither a paper zone nor artificial or abstract.
It is a distinct island with a distinct social fabric and economic development and with an important contribution to to make to the national polity in terms of material and intellectual resources.
Thus its claim to regional status as an island region is compelling. And the story of the Gozo Civic Council shows precisely how that level of regionalism was achieved in 1961 and lost again within 12 years when the council was abolished by a narrow majority in Parliament in December 1973.
The ordinance that set up the Gozo Council statutorily acknowledged a specific regional structure for the island, while ironically 50 years later such a structure is lacking, and results in a representative deficit to the island’s detriment. This could mean either that the Gozo Council came 50 years before its time, or that we now are 50 years behind the times. This situation is creating a historical injustice and urgently needs to be addressed. Although local councils were set up in 1993, they are separate, and do not constitute a state of regionalism unless they join together to represent one single identifiable region.
Malta’s entry into the European Union in 2004 has strengthened the regional concept and culture and added considerable weight to the political argument favouring Gozo’s regional status.
I had the honour to chair a committee set up by the Parliamentary Secretary for local councils to organise activities marking the 50th anniversary of the birth of the Gozo Civic Council. These included a conference on the theme ‘Fifty years from the birth of the Gozo Civic Council – a past experience or a model for the future?’ All the speakers agreed that the issue should be debated further. The debate must go on and end with a positive outcome. None of the spea-kers objected to a regional set-up.
The way forward is to officially acknowledge Gozo’s regional credentials, and declare it an Island Region of Malta. Then along with the Gozo Ministry and the Gozitan local councils, to create the optimum multi-level governance model that can deliver and sustain the best political equilibrium, improve social justice, empower the island to implement the necessary regional economic and social policies, counter its double insularity disadvantages and thus contribute its share in the national interest.
Mr Tabone is a former Minister for Gozo and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The book is on sale from the Culture Office in Victoria.