Joseph M. Pirotta:Fortress Colony: THE FINAL ACT 1945-64, Vol. IV, 1961-1964,
Midsea Books, 1,187 pp., 2018. 

The MLP-Church dispute continued after the 1962 election, although several attempts were made at a rapprochement between the two sides, including one by (now Cardinal) Prospero Grech, who tried to mediate with the Vatican.

Joseph Pirotta refers to Dom Mintoff’s secret overtures to the Italian government in 1963 to integrate Malta with Italy, which he discussed in talks with the Italian government. The MLP had sent a secret memo­randum to Italy, seeking for Malta the same relationship with Italy as that enjoyed by San Marino or Sicily. However, the Italians rebuffed the proposal.

By this time, Colonial Secretary Duncan Sandys wanted Malta to become independent as soon as possible; while the Centre parties wanted a referendum, the MLP insisted on a general election before independence.

Meanwhile, the Attorney-General (later Chief Justice), Professor J.J. Cremona drafted the government’s Independence Constitution, incorporating changes suggested by a PN committee, which was discussed at length in Cabinet and also by the PN executive.

Sandys called an all-party conference at Marlborough House in London, which met from July 14 to August 1, 1963. Pirotta gives a detailed report of the lengthy and often acrimonious proceedings, quoting copiously from official sources and from British newspapers.

The conference was marked by disagreements regarding the position of the Catholic Church in the new Constitution; the insistence by Mintoff on including his demands to reduce the Church’s influence and privileges, known as the Six Points, one of which called for the abolition of privilegium fori, which meant that the bishops could not be sued criminally; the centre parties insisting on a referendum on whether the people wanted independence now, with Toni Pellegrini’s Christian Workers Party (CWP) seeking ‘co-citizenship’ with Britain and Mabel Strickland’s Progressive Constitutional Party (PCP)’s ‘interdependence’ with the UK. The conference ended in deadlock, but with Sandys’ announcement that Malta would become independent by May 31, 1964.  

Apart from the various stances taken by the Maltese parties, Pirotta recounts a curious incident: two Gozitan brothers, John and Paul Portelli, both PCP supporters, asked Strickland to convey a letter to Sandys asking that in the event of independence being granted to Malta, Gozo would remain a British colony.

Gonzi, who was invited to meet Sandys, described Mintoff’s Six Points as interference with the Church’s freedom to give advice to Catholics. Mintoff, on the other hand, threatened to resort to violence if his human rights provisions were not included in the Constitution.  

At the all-party conference at Marlborough House, London (from left): Anton Buttigieg, Emanuel Bezzina, Danny Cremona, Herbert Ganado, Riccardo Farrugia, Albert Ganado (at the back) and Mabel Strickland.

The Governor, Sir Maurice Dorman, took Mintoff’s threats seriously, though Mintoff later denied any plans for a coup. The question was whether UK troops stationed in Malta would be used if the threat of violence were to be carried out.

Eventually, Gonzi got his way and the Church’s position was safeguarded in the Constitution, which Borg Olivier agreed to put to a referendum after its passage through Parliament. This was done in five stormy sittings, and the Constitution was approved on April 4, 1964, by 26 votes to 16, with the Centre parties abstaining.

In the referendum campaign, the MLP refused to take part in the Broadcasting Authority’s schedule of political broadcasts, and decided to broadcast in Maltese from Cairo – a foretaste of what was to happen with the PN and its broadcasts from Sicily in the early 1980s.

Borg Olivier’s triumphal waving of the instrument of independence which he had just received from Prince Philip, symbolised the highlight of his long political career

The MLP campaigned for a No vote, and the Centre parties called for a boycott or the casting of blank or spoiled votes, much to Sandys’ dismay. A team of British observers was appointed to monitor the referendum.

Different interpretations were given to the result, but it was clear that the Yes vote – 50 per cent of those who had voted, almost 83 per cent of the electorate – had prevailed.

Borg Olivier immediately embarked on tough and protracted negotiations for a defence treaty and financial agreement on the best possible terms. He finally managed to obtain a package of £50 million for 10 years (75 per cent in grants and 25 per cent in loans) plus another £1 million for the restoration of fortifications. The defence agreement was also for a period of 10 years, with Borg Olivier insisting that no nuclear weapons be stationed in Malta. 

Sandys wanted amendments to the Malta Constitution to make it more palatable to the House of Commons, especially with regard to the position of the Church, but Borg Olivier threatened to resign unless his Constitution was approved. 

After lengthy, tortuous negotiations also involving the Papal Legate to Britain, Archbishop Igino Cardinale, Borg Olivier got his way and returned home to a rapturous welcome from his supporters on July 26. The House of Commons approved the Malta Constitution Bill in a single sitting on July 28. Mintoff promptly dubbed this a ‘sham’ independence and promised to abrogate the defence and financial agreements (which he did on his return to power in 1971).  

Archbishop Michael Gonzi and Prime Minister George Borg Olivier welcome Prince Philip on his arrival for the Independence celebration.

The date for Malta’s independence was set for September 21. Sixty countries, including the Soviet Union, were invited to send representatives to attend the celebrations.   

The Church made an attempt at reconciliation with the MLP, and as a sign of goodwill, lifted the interdict it had imposed on members of the party execu­tive three and a half years earlier. But the dispute with the MLP was not to be settled before 1969.

In view of rumours of a plot to assassinate Borg Olivier, public meetings outside the official celebrations were bann­ed in Valletta and Floriana, but this did not stop some MLP supporters, with Mintoff in their midst, from staging protest demonstrations, which failed to disrupt the celebrations.

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, represented the Queen, while Sandys led the British government delegation.

The highlight of the celebrations was the midnight lowering of the Union Jack and the raising of the Maltese flag at an emotion-filled ceremony at the Floriana parade ground (renamed Independence Arena) which many of us still remember with pride. The following morning, September 21, Borg Olivier’s triumphal waving of the instrument of independence which he had just received from Prince Philip, symbolised the highlight of his long political career.

Mintoff could not stomach the fact that it was Borg Olivier who obtained independence for Malta. As Pirotta so rightly puts it: “He had the choice of acknowledging the historic event without renouncing his right to criticise the political accords… He chose instead to adopt a ‘dog in the manger’ attitude, branding Malta’s sovereignty mock-independence and vowing to tear up the Constitution and the Anglo-Maltese Agreements. He deliberately ignored the inherent contradiction that the power to do so emanated from the very sovereignty whose existence he steadfastly denied in his effort to browbeat the nation into disowning it…”

(Concluded. The first part of this book review appeared last Sunday.)