On February 13, The Times published A Little Matter Of Corrupt Practices, an interesting article by Lino Spiteri, surely one of our best opinion writers. Expressing his opinion about the return of self-government and the 1962 general elections Mr Spiteri argues that “the Nationalist Party came out tops in the elections. Surely, 50 years on, that event merits commemorating by the present Nationalist government. Yet, not a whisper about it”.

Mr Spiteri’s observation is an unbelievable blunder.

We are all celebrating the Nationalist victory in 1962. Every step we make. Every breath we take. Whether we are blue, red, technicolour. It was the victory which led to the achievement of independence after 150 years of British rule. It was the victory that made us sovereign citizens in a free country. The acquisition of independence was a very difficult task for George Borg Olivier and the Nationalist Party. After the elections Dr Borg Olivier, happy because he had the assurance of the British Secretary of State that the constitution of Malta would be amended, convened Parliament on April 26, 1962 and made a request for independence within the Commonwealth.

The Labour Party, after having campaigned for integration with Britain in the 1950s, now wanted its own type of independence and did not back the Nationalist proposal. The three small parties in Parliament, the Christian Workers’ Party, the Democratic Nationalist Party and the Progressive Constitutional Party were all concerned about whether Malta was already prepared for independence and were not much help to the Nationalists.

It was a gargantuan task for Dr Borg Olivier. During the Malta Independence Conference held in London Dr Borg Olivier had to handle the opposition of the Malta Labour Party, the scepticism of the small parties and the tight-fistedness of the British all alone. His great belief in the Maltese people and his exceptional abilities as a shrewd political strategist won the day and proud Malta became independent in September 1964.

But we do not celebrate the Nationalist victory in 1962 and that in the 1966 elections just because of independence. The 1960s saw Malta passing through impressive initiatives that changed the face of our islands. At first, the scenario was not really attractive and encouraging. The Nationalist government inherited the effects of the services’ rundown which Duncan Sandys started in 1957 and was hammered by a second ferocious rundown in 1966.

To his credit Dr Borg Olivier overcame these massive crises with unwavering and ingenious skills. He succeeded in building an atmosphere of courage and trust for the future. His policies of agreement with Britain and friendship with the Western countries were a guarantee for Malta to have political and economic stability. All this led to an economic boom in Malta. Factories, hotels, restaurants and clubs mushroomed all over the island. These years marked the birth of tourism in Malta on a large scale. We thus witnessed the creation of thousands of jobs for the Maltese.

When the Nationalists lost the 1971 elections Dr Borg Olivier handed over to Dom Mintoff a country which was enjoying a standard of living that was much higher than that of pre-independence days.