As an employee with an American firm, July 4 is always a special date in the office calendar (alongside Thanksgiving), marked by special culinary treats. Writing a few days after, when my French friends and colleagues celebrate their French fête, reminds me that, on more than one occasion, I faced a question to which I do not have an answer: when is Malta’s national day?
Of course, I somewhat shy away from the true answer – which is that we do not have a national day – by proudly saying we are one of the countries in Europe with most national and public holidays.
However, the question is still a valid one and merits a unique answer.
I was last in Malta during the first week of June and found time to reflect on the matter during one of my many Valletta trips. The timing of the trip helped for some inspiration. I believe June 7 should be Malta’s national day.
For starters, one can very naively say that June 7, affectionately known as Sette Giugno, is a political party-neutral holiday.
Being the polarised country that it is, it is hardly surprising to think that if any government were to pick – even if by popular vote in a referendum – a date even implicitly linked to a political party, it would cause mayhem.
What would Labourites say if September 21 is declared as the country’s only national holiday? Conversely, how would Nationalists react if December 13 or March 31 are declared such and Independence relegated to a mere public holiday?
This is, in actual fact, a very skewed version of history, on both counts.
Dom Mintoff snubbed Independence since he believed it did not give Malta its complete independence; he actually was in favour of a more complete independence, which included the closure of the military base (a task which he did see through in 1979, another national day).
Similarly, in 1974 the absolute majority of Nationalist MPs went against the wishes of their leader Borg Olivier to support the then Labour government’s proposal of Malta becoming a republic and ironically four of Malta’s Presidents were strong Nationalist stalwarts in political careers.
The 1919 event probably marks the true start of the Maltese decades-long quest for nationhood
Hence, in truth, there are really no reasonable grounds for either party to react adversely to the nomination of a milestone which was achieved by the then-leader of the “other” party since, in actual fact, the two (or even three) events brought about political and social progress to the entire country, rather than just the 50 per cent plus one, but that is Maltese politics for you.
The more solid argument in favour of isolating June 7 as Malta’s true national day is that the 1919 event probably marks the true start of the Maltese decades-long quest for nationhood, even if it echoes idealistic visions set beforehand by idols such as Manwel Dimech and Mikiel Anton Vassalli before him.
The ultimate fruition of the riots were the establishment of Malta’s first so-called ‘self-government’ in 1921 and what is a better indicator of Malta’s initial step towards its break from colonialism?
In addition, the 1919 riots were virtually the only time that Maltese civilians actually shed their blood and lost their lives, which gives it a unique, even if particularly sad, distinction from the other national days.
The importance of the three “political” events alluded to earlier and, indeed, also the other national day of September 8, naturally all have their place in our country’s history, even if the latter one finds its origins around religious cults coincident with military victories of our country’s rulers against their enemy almost certainly in 1565 (and arguably again in 1800 and 1943).
However, in all of these circumstances, Malta – and its people – ended up fighting and dying for its occupier. In contrast, the lost Maltese lives lost on June 7 were, if you like, for Malta’s own sake.
A word on the name is in order.
The Italianate term for June 7 reflects the fact that, in 1919, Italian was still the official language of Malta and indeed remained so until 1934 after the heated “language debate” between English and Italian (but ironically not Maltese).
The nomenclature thus reflects the age when the commemorated event took place, i.e., when Malta was ‘just’ a British outpost, even if given the title of ‘Nurse of the Mediterranean’, but with no real political status of its own, not even having formal recognition of its vernacular language, which finds its roots millennia ago, and which is sadly often at risk in the present age.
I am neither an expert of constitutional history nor a political theorist.
However, writing as a mere citizen, I trust that my views are shared by many others and I sincerely hope that, in the coming months, an act in the Maltese Parliament may be passed with a unanimous vote, declaring the Sette Giugno, as Malta’s sole national day, preferably in time for the centenary commemoration in 2019.
Hopefully, on every July 4 and 14, I can answer the question I am asked annually without any hesitation.
Karl Micallef is an architect/structural engineer, currently working in London.