An uneventful, short ceremony yesterday morning marked the 33rd anniversary of Freedom Day.

President George Abela and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi were given the national salute and then laid flowers at the foot of the monument in Vittoriosa.

The national holiday marks the day on March 31, 1979, when Malta stopped acting as a British military base in 1979, one of the highlights of Dom Mintoff’s premiership. Members of lobby group Graffitti, who usually hold an annual protest to lament the presence of military forces or ships in Malta, stayed away from yesterday’s event.

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