The greatest desire of any people is to be ruled by those they consider to be their own kind. In a democracy, this means management of the country by elected representatives who have to answer for their actions when they ask people to approve or disapprove of their tenure of office.
The Maltese people had for centuries laboured under foreign rule. Independence came on September 21, 1964 when the Maltese flag was raised high. To me, as a young reporter for Il-Poplu, it was a beautiful dream come true. On December 1, Malta was admitted to the United Nations, an international confirmation that it had achieved statehood.
International acceptance did not mean national acceptance however. Away from the Independence Arena where celebrations took place, police riot squads fought running battles with Labour Party supporters who had refused to accept the terms under which Independence had been gained from Britain. Whether the terms could have been improved at the time is a moot point.
Then Prime Minister George Borg Olivier believed that the country needed to learn how to govern itself, that it had to set up its own industries and trade links and its foreign service. He also needed money that accrued from the presence of a British forces base in Malta, a presence that not only employed thousands but protected the island.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but there is no doubt that on that night, the PN was on the right side of history and Dom Mintoff and the Labour Party were not: especially when it meant spurring on the Maltese to fight Maltese. It should not have been a time for division but the Labour Party was bent on spoiling the party.
People from other parts of Malta had no idea what it took to keep the Nationalist vote steady in my districts
I admired Borg Olivier and to this day see him as the father of Maltese Independence. This in no way belittles what Dom Mintoff did afterwards when he turned Malta into a republic and closed down the British base. History is built one stone at a time.
The next big leap forward came in 2004. When the PN gained power under the leadership of Eddie Fenech Adami in 1987, they brought with them another great vision: that of Malta reaching out to Europe. We had not relished very much the experience of having Gaddafi as a so-called blood brother. Nor did we enjoy having lessons in Arabic imposed on our schoolchildren.
The 1970s and early 1980s were years of turmoil and violence. Contesting, as I did, the second and third districts, was no run in the park. Despite the headlines, the thuggery, the violence, people from other parts of Malta had no idea what it took to keep the Nationalist vote steady in my districts. Very few of my parliamentary colleagues had to live in fear of their lives and the safety of their families every time they ventured into the streets. This applied in particular to myself, an uncompromising opponent of “Mintoffianism”.
On July 16, 1990, Malta applied to join the EU. Again the Labour Party opposed this vision and when returned to power in 1996, they shelved the application.
Malta did however join the EU in 2004 and agreement was reached with the Labour Party that had fiercely opposed that move (the present Prime Minister being at the forefront of that opposition) not to go back on the agreement when eventually they would come to power.
At the present in fact, nobody enthuses more about the EU than the same man who fought so hard to prevent Malta becoming a member. Ironically, Joseph Muscat (no connection with my family I can assure you) is at present the holder of the EU presidency.
The PN had, for the second time, been on the right side of history.
Never in our short history as an independent nation has any prime minister carried such a heavy perception of corruption as at present. Not a single previous holder of that office has ever been accused of deliberately opting to protect their chosen team when serious doubts about their honesty arose even internationally.
Worse than that, too many of the State institutions have lost the confidence of many people. The system of necessary checks and balances does not seem to be working. When the police and the financial authorities are perceived as failing to investigate serious allegations of fraud and corruption in the administration of the country, the State begins to look very sick indeed.
This is why this election, as Simon Busuttil insists, is not the usual audit of a government’s term of office. It is far more. It is about the honesty of those administering the country: whether holders of office and persons of trust have the right to plunder the country of its resources. It is about the integrity of State institutions. It is about whether we have the moral fibre to insist that holders of office should be – above all else – men of integrity.
June 3 must be another day when the country chooses the right side of history.
Josie Muscat is a Nationalist Party candidate on the second and third districts.