Former President and Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami insisted this evening that the country has a duty to remember what it went through 25 years ago – the killing of Raymond Caruana and the frame-up on Pietru Pawl Busuttil – because losing one’s memory meant losing one’s identity.

“We have a duty not to forget. Without our memory we will lose our identity,” Dr Fenech Adami said to applause during a commemorative evening at PN headquarters in Pieta.

Dr Fenech Adami was leader of the Nationalist Party and Opposition leader when those events unfolded 25 years ago.

He said that what took place 25 years ago was the result of an environment created by a few people who had a free hand, and possibly were even directed in what to do.  

“I am proud of our reaction at the time of those horrible events,” Dr Fenech Adami said.

He recalled that the general election was held a few months afterwards and the Nationalist Party, which was elected to government, came out with a programme of national reconciliation based on the slogan Jobs, Justice and Freedom.

We were not bent on being vindictive, but on launching a programme of national reconciliation. We managed to get elected and carried out that programme of national reconciliation,” Dr Fenech Adami said.  

The new government, he said, worked on creating the right environment for job-creating investment at a time when Malta still had hundreds of workers employed in corps under military discipline.

It also brought about justice, including the restoration of civil rights and observance of the rule of law for everyone.

But more than anything, the new government sought to restore freedom, Dr Fnech Adami said.

He recalled in particular how the new government even allowed the Labour opposition to have its own radio station and then its own television station – this after a Labour government where, for the state broadcaster, the leader of the opposition had no name for nine months. 

“We need to remember all these things to understand how much we must safeguard the freedoms we now enjoy,” Dr Fenech Adami said.

At the time, he said, some had criticised the government, but it had the courage of its convictions, and as it always said, truth ultimately prevailed.  

He was proud, Dr Fenech Adami said, that the Maltese people, as they had always done, rose to the challenges they faced and guided their country along the road which eventually also saw them join the European Union.

But as they enjoyed the gains which they had made, the people needed to look back at what they had been through and remember the courage of those who were now no longer here.

Dr  Fenech Adami paid special tribute to Raymond Caruana’s family, including his brothers who were present for the ceremony, as well as Pietru Pawl Busuttil, who was present as well.

Mr Busuttil, he said, had been through a horrendous experience when those responsible for the observance of law and order had themselves broken the law and committed a crime when they framed him.

People who were now 25 years old or younger might wonder how Malta had suffered all this, Dr Fenech Adami said. There lay the reason to remember in order to always defend the country’s freedoms and its identity.

The evening was concluded by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, who said the death of Raymond Caruana had given a new beginning to the country.

He recalled that in the Budget debate a few days after the killing of Raymond Caruana, then Opposition leader Fenech Adami immediately declared that amid the unfolding situation, the Budget was irrelevant.

Dr Fenech Adami said he saw parallels with the current situation but in the opposite way, because some people today were saying that the events of 25 years ago were irrelevant or should not be given importance.

But for the Maltese people, and not just the PN, what happened 25 years ago was very relevant because they recalled how precious were the gains made by the people at the time.

Those events gave birth to the 'culture of freedom', freedom which was often not appreciated until it was lost.

The incidents of November/December 1986 were the result of at least five years of events which started when democratic freedom was stolen in 1981 when the Labour Party governed without having a majority of votes. Then the people even lost the right to send their children to the schools they wished. The people could not celebrate Independence Day, many could not read the newspaper they wished to read...

Against such events, the people could appreciate the freedoms they now enjoyed.

Dr Gonzi recalled the song penned by Hector Bruno/Paul Camilleri entitled Kien Bidu mhux tmiem and said that the events a quarter of a century ago did not mark the collapse of the country, but the beginning of a new future for the country. They also brought about extensive reform even within the political parties, where people of different views could freely express their positions.

The future for the country was one of opportunities and challenges, Dr Gonzi said. The challenge was not one of democracy, but the challenge posed by economic forces which had seen big countries humiliated because they did not have the courage to take the proper decisions at the right time.

Gone was the time of populism and superficiality. A people was judge by the courage of its decisions.

This commemoration, Dr Gonzi, should instil optimism in the people. Once they had gone through so much, there was no reason why they could not forge a good future for themselves.

The commemorative evening included the screening of documentaries of what took place 25 years ago and addresses by people who were born 25 years ago and gave their perspective of how they view democracy now.

The activity was introduced by PN General Secretary Paul Borg Olivier.