A republic is a form of government in which power is explicitly vested in the people who, in turn, exercise their power through their elected representatives and where the head of state is a President and not a monarch. Malta became a republic on December 13, 1974 but the road to the republic was long and hard.
The immortal Maltese patriots Mikiel Anton Vassalli and Manwel Dimech both dreamed of Malta as a republic. Both highly admired the French model of a republic. Vassalli actually lived to see Malta become part of the First French Republic after the French occupation of the Maltese islands in June 1798. However, he was destined to be disillusioned by the outcome. Malta's brief experience of the French republican ideal was a bitter one ending in the insurrection of September 2, 1798.
The prime reason why this first experiment in republicanism on the French model failed in Malta lies in the fact that the First French Republic was characterised by a high dose of anti-clericalism. Given the mediaeval state of development in the Maltese islands in 1798 and the fervent religious sentiments of the vast majority of the population at that time, the secularism and anti-clericalism of the French jarred heavily on Maltese sentiments. Mikiel Anton Vassalli's republican dreams were prematurely ended when the French capitulated on September 5, 1800.
A hundred years later, at the dawn of the 20th century, Manwel Dimech promoted the idea of a Republic of Malta and Gozo (Repubblika Gawlo-Maltija). Malta was now a British Crown Colony and Dimech's dream would not be realised until the latter part of the 20th century. In other words, he was a man ahead of his time. Responsible government was only granted to Malta by the Constitution of 1921, the year of Dimech's death.
The next important step in the road towards the Maltese republic was the failure to implement the integration proposal put forward by the Malta Labour Party, which was victorious in the 1955 general election. Integrating Malta with Great Britain was a proposal that made sense at the time because, overnight, the standard of living of all Maltese citizens would reach the much higher levels of British citizens.
When integration was dropped from the political agenda, the stage was set for the three crucial events that changed the face of Malta: Independence, the republic and the closure of the British military base in Malta. Perhaps overshadowed by the ferocious politico-religious dispute of the 1960s is the fact that the two major political parties of the time, the Nationalist Party and the Malta Labour Party, both proposed independence to the electorate in the 1962 general election.
Since the Nationalist Party won the 1962 general election and since the British were granting independence to their former colonies, independence came under a Nationalist Administration on September 21, 1964. The first Prime Minister of an independent Malta was Giorgio Borg Olivier, arguably the greatest leader the Nationalist Party ever had. Malta became a democratic constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II declared as head of state and represented in Malta by a Governor-General. The Malta Labour Party was against this particular constitutional provision.
When Dom Mintoff's MLP was victorious at the 1971 general election, the Labour leader immediately replaced the British Governor-General with a Maltese, Sir Anthony Mamo. Then, with the approval of the necessary two-thirds majority in Parliament, the Constitution was changed and Malta became a republic with a President (who was to be a Maltese citizen and elected for five years) as head of state. The first President was Sir Anthony Mamo. However, Mr Mintoff, went one step further and ensured that the Republic of Malta be built on the full independence and sovereignty of the Maltese people by closing the British military base in Malta on March 31, 1979.
We are now almost in the year 2008 and some people question the importance of Malta being a republic as they see this as having little effect on their everyday lives. Does the word "republic" still make sense in today's globalised world where even totalitarian dictatorships call themselves "republics"? What about the pejorative sense of the word such as in Banana Republic? Even in European republics, power no longer resides in the people but is hijacked by their representatives who act as they please and rarely in the people's best interests, some critics maintain. These distressing questions worry citizens in all parts of the world, including Malta.
There are no easy answers to such questions. One possible solution could lie in the further development of the European Union of which the Republic of Malta is now a member. Since the EU is a supra-national organisation that protects the rights of citizens when these are infringed by their own governments, it is in effect putting into practice the essence of the republican ideal: The absolute sovereignty of the people. Will our grandchildren live in a Republic of Europe? The answer lies in the future.