31 March, 1979 is one of the most important days in Maltese history. After centuries of foreign domination and occupation, Malta was finally free of the presence of the armed forces of another country on its soil. The Maltese had endured enormous hardships through the years because Malta was embroiled in several wars simply because it was under the control of a foreign power. Maltese lives had been uselessly lost in the service of another country which, for a long period of time, refused to give the Maltese any say in the running of their own country.

Indeed, the process of real Independence for Malta was completed in three phases. The first phase was completed on 21 September, 1964. The second phase ended with the creation of the Republic of Malta on 13 December, 1974. The third and final phase was completed with the closure of the British military base in Malta on 31 March, 1979.

The Independence Constitution was an imperfect instrument. Whole areas of Malta remained in the hands of the British and the Head of State remained the British Queen. More serious, in case of a perceived threat to security, the British could literally take over the country. Remember, this was after Independence in 1964!

Dom Mintoff, of course, was no fool and on coming to power in June, 1971, he immediately started working towards paving the way to making Malta independent not only in name but in fact. He made the British pay dearly for their military facilities in Malta and, then, closed the base in 1979. Meanwhile, he had transformed Malta into a Republic in 1974 and the Head of State was now the President who had to be a Maltese citizen.

Being a great statesman, Dom Mintoff knew that closing the British military base would be largely ineffective if he did not teach the Maltese to believe in themselves and shed, once and for all, the mentality of the colonised which saw all foreigners as being superior to the Maltese. Mintoff taught the Maltese that what a foreigner could do, the Maltese could do better! He was a living example of this because he outwitted the cream of European diplomacy on many occasions, Helsinki being the foremost example.

Freedom Day illustrates the difference between the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party. The Nationalists have always been poor in their diplomacy when dealing with more powerful countries. Labour has always been strong with all countries and brought the best results for Malta and the Maltese. Today, history is repeating itself because the present PN Government has been very weak in its relationship with the European Union and with Libya on the issue of illegal immigration and now the problem has reached alarming proportions. We need another Mintoff with the Europeans and our southern neighbours. Joseph Muscat? Yes, I think so.