Dom Mintoff writes to Hon PM Dr Gonzi 5h July 2007

Dr. Dom Mintoff,

Emeritus Prime Minister,

Founder of the Republic of Malta,

“The Olives” Xintill Str.,

Tarxien.

5^th July 2007.

The Rt Hon Dr. L. Gonzi,

Prime Minister of the Republic of Malta,

Auberge de Castille,

Valletta.

Dear Prime Minister,

Dear colleague,

About 3 weeks ago your trusted new colleague, the Parliamentary secretary for Justice and I had an URGENT and CONFIDENTIAL talks. we also agreed it was proper for him to seek your formal approval before taking any further action. It seems that the stay in Valletta of the President of the Commission of the European Union was so short that the Hon Dr Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici did not find it possible to consult you before the departure of the President.

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In all this hurry scurry, when it seems that our PM and the parliamentary Secretary for Justice had to attend high level talks in separate European locations, the Maltese officer who had typed the draft of our joint letter sent it to the President signed only by myself. I took the precautions to instruct her to forward a copy of this letter to the Maltese Prime Minister. I do not doubt that she has done so although this confusion had so frightened her that she refused to give me a written confirmation.

To me all this mess was sadly reminiscent of the disastrous consequences of the Barroso initiation as President of the European Commission – a very unfortunate coincidence with your perversely stormy snatching of the helm as PM of our sun drenched Islands. I am certain you still keep the records as a souvenir of your early times when the emeritus Prime Minister, our colleague, Dr. Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici and I, had, together with Libya’s plenipotentiary, speedily prepared a solution for the vexed problem of immigration which, if Barroso had displayed more political maturity at that time, would have spared the terrible tribulations afflicting all of us today. I never came to know exactly how your role in those rueful circumstances had come to an end; you never met me face to face since those unhappy days.

Incidentally immigration is no longer a merely EURO-MEDITERRANEAN problem. It has to be globally solved by all nations who hold the fundamental value of the heroism of peace much higher than the narrow and cruel fanaticism of war. But I feel a discussion with you on this most vital issue in the presence of the People parties of Italy – with whom my colleagues and I, despite our socialist divide, had a friendlier relationship than

the “Nationalist” Party during my very long watch over the destiny of our Islands – you did not wish to have just now.

Whilst Europe is feet-dragging, the rest of the world is changing very fast. During my very active time we had already started afforestation on a very large scale, the increase of the depth of our waters round our shores, made large land increments towards Comino, Filfla and Gozo. We launched also a very profitable Oil Exploration drive with the concomitant competition of the leading oil barons of the capitalist West who were happy to pay for the privilege.

We did all this and more in order to assuage our constant concern that our people, if struck by panic in a calamity, lacked the physical space for a safe refuge to children, pregnant mothers, hospital patients and senior citizens.

An array of ostriches digging their beautifully curved necks in the san shows more common sense than all our conferences of local and foreign experts which happily ignore the unpleasant fact that if today an earth tremor of a moderate dimension or an inundation such as the one that struck Rome last week would cause enough panic to extinguish all life on these Islands for many generations to come.

Think of that and then tell me – the one who is held like a leper incommunicado in his water infected home- whether it is not a totally sadistic madness that allows George W. Bush to expose so many innocent lives to extinction without providing them with any protection against terrorist reprisals. Is this the civilization we wish to impose on a a frightened and restive Moslem and African world? Why are the Western media – the paladins of Western democracy – damnably silent about the truth?

WHY had we, the aspirants for transparency, marked CONFIDENTIAL our draft letter to Dr. Gonzi and Dr Barroso?

First. Like unselfish reformers we wished to convert the powers that be to our side. there is no better fortune for genuine reforms than the consent of the powerful to engage in free discussions for a change of course by the ship of state. That was definitely our primary consideration.

A secondary motive of perhaps a larger strategic import was the widely spread corruption I kept noticing during my enforced retirement from public life. It tainted all sectors of our society including alas the noble performers of the radical change of our mediaeval social structure in our recent past. It was a disease of moral fatigue that embraced the defeatist capitalist political philosophy “I shall look after myself, let Jack do the same”. It is only one step short of the capitalist way of life £the more money I make the less I shall know what to do with it. the greater shall be the quantity that the down and outs shall look for in my refuse bins”.

What frightens most is how this moral decay has flowed down from the highest echelons of our tiny nation to the lowest of our street urchins. the cure must therefore start at the top to reach the bottom. Meanwhile there seem to be generations of comparatively well-

to-do lads and lasses falling by the wayside as suicidal drug addicts or condemned to a slow death by HIV infections.

If what I have been able to read in the progressive sectors of the American and British media is anything to go by, this malaise is endemic throughout all the nations of the old and new Europe, and presents a gloomy prospect for the bravest amongst us.

Nonetheless what I have personally undergone throughout eight and a half decades spanning the miseries of two world wars and rejoicing in the resurrection of my derelict country and of many other countries far and near, the miracle we need is the future does not have to be as big as the one we achieved in the old days through sacrifices, hard work and solidarity.

And I stress my firm belief in a rosier future fully conscious of the Herculean magnitude of the moral and physical toil ahead. In taking our Malta as a model of what must be done, I include the rot that must be removed from our agriculture, fisheries, financial, medical and transport services, cultural and educational facilities, leisure and sport. Above all the rebirth of our moral values must be preceded by the reawakening of credibility on our political parties.

And the dream I hold of humanity on the march, the vision I perceive of tolerance, kindness and mutual help from the cradle to the grave, shall overcome all the gloom and depression caused by selfishness in the past twenty years. But we must start now. And we have to move forward at a much greater pace if we wish to clean the stables we know best and then spring forward to greater heights.

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The Law Courts of Malta claim cleansing priority because it is the institution with which our powers that be are most familiar and the one on which the general public including many lawyers look with contempt. With so much evidence of fatigue and decay it is the institution most likely to have its ugly face washed and its political conservative bias abolished after our next national elections to the House of Representatives.

In the House of Representatives sit our elected lawmakers and those members with the largest and next largest following are also entrusted with the task of forming a Government ands a shadow Government. The technical name of the leader of the Government side is Prime Minister and in Parliament the word Government means the Prime Minister and all hers of his Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries.

The technical name for the Shadow government is the Opposition and the member leading it is technically called the Leader of the Opposition and his main assistants are the Shadow Ministers.

In Parliament the Leader of the Opposition holds a rank second in importance to that of the Prime Minister for his task is supposed to be double-pronged: outright opposition of those draft laws which he considers to be repugnant to the majority of the electorate with suggestions of scrapping them and replacing them with the legislation of his own

devising which he knows some sectors of the electorate would be glad to approve but the Prime Minister cannot accept without losing face and support in the country.

This second method of attack appears to be easy. Yet it takes great skill and power of improvisation for the Leader of the Opposition not to appear vote catching and only genuinely concerned that the country has not been offered something better. He does this although he knows that this could not have been done without conflict with the political creed of the Prime Minister. The Leader of the Opposition must at the same time be very careful to show too much or too often or be tempted by a sudden opportunity for a sudden big catch which forces him to share crooked political creeds.

Such excesses are bound to lose him the support of the political activists within his party machine. The best machines of any Establishment supporting a specific creed be it political, religious, academic, theatrical, leisure-seeking or any other communal activity, are built by voluntary labour and countless small contributions. It’s best run and oiled by the genuine oratory of its leaders with the rank and file and a sincere fraternization with the unpaid and self-sacrificing activists. A party machine without unpaid activists is like a furnace without oxygen and heat can then be produced only by allowing organic matter to fester and rot.

That is why my friends and I believe that and International fact finding commission representing those countries who show concern about the present and future of the Maltese people and believe in their immense potential to make and outstanding contribution for the achievement of global peace – China, India, Russia, the European Union, Algeria, Libya, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Australia and a United States of America without the ill-starred war mongering George W. bush, be invited to inquire what has stopped Malta’s institutions including its little army, its media, its banks etc from persevering along the paths of peace.

But it is impossible to do this without first and immediately getting rid of the Commissioner of Police who instead of protecting civilians from being harmed by criminals has chosen to become the local head of intelligence in the service of NATO and CIA. Kindly let me know possibly by next Tuesday whether you agree.

Yours very sincerely

Dom Mintoff

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Dom Mintoff writes to HE Mr J. M. D. Baroso Pres of the EU 14th June 2007 (Click on image to enlarge)

Triq Xintill

Tarxien

Malta

14thJune 2007

His Excellency Mr Jose’ Manuel Durao Barroso

President of the European Commission

Dr Mr President,

1 Malta has been famous for her hospitality and kindness to all foreigners, regardless of colour of skin or religious belief. Therefore a handwritten note jotted down in a big hurry just as you were arriving this evening is not a warm greeting to welcome someone with whom I want to establish a friendship for the mutual benefit of my country and with whatever is left of the former European Union.

2. Of my academic distinctions, I treasure most the awards of a doctorate from the University of Athens for my small country’s great contribution to the Mother of Western Democracies to regain her freedom from a dictatorship of colonialists, sponsored and financed by the C.I.A. of the U.S.A. While doing this on my watch we helped also to give a fair beginning to a rapprochement with the Moslems in Turkey by making use of our friendship with Kemal Ataturk’s Army successors. I am sorry to point out that the European Union has failed to carry out a similar operation today, when circumstances are more favourable.

3. Another failure to which Malta and the E.U. now jointly have to make amends is the survival of our shipyards. These yards survived a similar threat in 1958 when Britain’s Minister of Defence, Churchill’s protégé Duncan Sandys, in order to conform with the quality of weapons of destruction by his allies France and Israel, shut down some British yards and included the Malta Dockyard.

We had just then totally rejected the blandishment of the George Cross awarded to our people for their bravery in resisting the heavy and continuous air bombardments by the Nazi and Fascist planes of Hitler and Mussolini during the Second World War. We unequivocally preferred to have the award by Britain’s monarch translated into freedom of our people to survive in peace with our neighbours; and in our quest for equal rights we were ready to consider union with Britain, provided it was offered on a basis of parity with the quality of life and standard of living of Britain’s citizens in Britain. Otherwise, we preferred to have total independence without any bonds whatsoever with Britain’s Empire.

When one considers how the entire livelihood of our people had been subordinated to Britain’s need of a fortress. When one remembers that the Island’s Christian faith, totally dominated by a Catholic establishment relying entirely on the Vatican for its survival in protestant fortress, one realises how high were these objectives – our opponents in Britain called us the brave children of a “convent fortress”. Yet our earnestness and the credibility of our record were such that the years 1955-1958 will be long remembered as the most heroic of our Island’s history.

4. Towards the end of 1942, the Second World War conflict was reaching the peak of its fury and the workers of Malta, encouraged by trade union chiefs holding posts in Britain’s civil service attached to war departments, woke up to the necessity to discard the protection of the Catholic Establishment by adopting statutes of lay religious confraternities and set up real trade unions as we know them today. Because the number of such trade unions was small, the General Workers Union was born and only two other trade unions – Draughtsmen and Writes – carried on their independent course. And the leader of the new General Workers’ Union came from the Writers’ Union that had already gained some solid benefits to its members in Malta’s shipyards.

It was in this background that the surviving activists in the pre-war Labour Party of Malta and new members recruited mostly from the trade unions that Malta’s LABOUR was resurrected in 1943. Fresh from my experience in Britain and encouraged by comrades in Britain, it was easy for me to give a major contribution for turning Malta’s old LABOUR into a democratic socialist movement with the most liberal outlook and yet with the real interest of Maltese workers at heart. In the new setup, in which delegates from members in districts sent delegates to a national convention, I was democratically elected Deputy Leader and the pre-war Leader – Doctor Boffa – reconfirmed as Leader.

5. I did not have the time to survive economically (I had embarked on a private practice as an architect rebuilding the damaged dwellings of workers where these had not been literally razed to the ground), nor the cash and wish to satisfy the ambition to sit in a Parliament with a so-called “Self-Government Constitution” imposed by the British Emperor from Whitehall in which any mention of foreign affairs was banned in the Maltese side of the Dyarchy and the Monarch’s side of the Dyarchy had sway on every law enacted by the representatives of the Maltese people. It was a Constitution that had elevated the privileges of the Catholic Establishment to the status of those of the Fortress: the security of the British Imperial Forces needed the reinforcement of the privileges of the local Catholic Clergy that followed the tide of progress lifting Britain’s Labour to supremacy in Britain but still entirely locked in its reliance of the economic sinews on its exploited colonies.

The British Establishment in Malta aided and abetted by Lord Strickland’s Constitutional Party were able to have a Constitution imposed by Whitehall against the wishes expressed by Malta’s representatives in a convention in which the Church, the merchants and the traditional professionals enjoyed a representation greater in

community.

6. Despite this great handicap, this National Assembly succeeded in :

a) abolishing the institutions of a Senate which would have been given a right of veto of all laws enacted by the House of Representatives; and

b) giving the voting rights to women who apart from a few individuals which one could count on one’s fingers (amongst these to her credit Lord Strickland’s daughter), had not yet articulated their human rights and Malta’s nascent social democracy had scored a success not yet legislated in Italy, Germany, Austria and the other parts of Europe still suffering from their defeat and unconditional surrender in the Second World War.

7. What was still one of the greatest handicaps was the disproportion in the representation of the numbers of voters from national elections to the House of Representatives, the lack of responsible local councils, the lack of freedom of speech which made criticism of the Church or Empire a criminal offence and worst of all freedom of thought and information that made liable to prosecution, even those citizens who dared to have in their possession the works of George Bernard Shaw. The Sedition Act was interpreted at will by the Imperialist Power to suffocate all divergence from Britain’s political will.

8. I hasten to emphasize this last point because the lack of freedom of thought is exactly what President George W. Bush has stealthily managed to impose on Malta in these turbulent times. He was able to do so because his interest coincided with those influential conservative members of the European Community who took the Island by storm, stomped her conservative elements into and enthusiastic and prompt support of a European Union that for economic reasons subordinated her political rights to those of her American conquerors and hastened to set up a top-heavy Establishment before the new social forces in Russia, India, Asia and Africa had their say.

9. Mainly because I little dreamt that suppression of information and freedom of thought would land me for the past three years into a prison on parole in my own house that had endangered my life several times and made it impossible for me to reach the ears of the Maltese people, it seems now that I have reached the ears of the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and my last hope is that the European Commission, in the interest of Malta and their survival, would now stop putting spokes in the wheels and allow Strasbourg (to which both the United States and Russia are committed to abide) to give an independent judgement.

10. Even George W. Bush, whose sincerity and intelligence I respect, will soon realise that my stand to get the American people change their course from the prevailing mode of crass old imperialism (which, with the awakening of new global forces clamouring for peace and social justice is now no longer realistic) to one of enlightened leadership that would still give the United States of America a prevailing role in the world’s destiny for many future generations.

11. Unlike me – he is about two decades younger that me – he has still a potential longevity in which he can fulfil his mission as an American adherent of the newly-born Christian faith. There is nothing to stop him from choosing ex-President Carter as a Christian ally. There is nothing to stop me and Malta to join them provided that global peace coupled with a modicum of social society becomes their political objective.

12. I hasten to conclude by declaring that provided I am allowed freedom of thought and action there is nothing to stop me from contributing to the wisdom that comes through experience to the global prosperity in pursuit of happiness.

13. There is everything to gain by the European Union also changing course.

Let us please do it together.

Yours sincerely,

Dom Mintoff

Emeritus Prime Minister of Malta

1955-1958; 1971-1984

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Dom Mintoff "The Future- Global order or chaos" (click on image to enlarge)

24^th November 2005

THE FUTURE - GLOBAL ORDER OR CHAOS?

Yesterday, Nov 23, 2005, Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland landed at Luqa Airport and proceeded for a warm welcome in Valletta from a Maltese Anglophile minority and some foreigners who waved Union Jacks as if utterly unaware that on March 3 1, 1979, Malta ceased to be the unsinkable British Nato Fortress.

On that memorable day, Malta in order to survive in freedom chose to be neutral, siding neither with the all powerful Nato nor with the equally formidable Soviet Bloc. A city state Republic with a population of about one third of a million and a territory of one hundred and twenty one square miles, Malta dedicated her entire life to world peace and social justice.

In that long transition from bondage to freedom not a single person was killed but tremendous hardships were endured by the Maltese workers and their leaders. In that proud achievement I played one of the major roles and some of my meetings with her Majesty were not purely ceremonial and must indeed have caused her some pain. Yet I found Queen Elizabeth always constitutionally correct and humanely kind. My home to which I am bound by my illness is only about one mile from Luqa Airport and my terrace is just a two minute walk from the bedecked with flags and flowers roundabout which her majesty finds on her way to Valletta. Had I been well I would have ventured out of my bedroom and from the terrace smiled and perhaps waved.

To-day whilst I am writing on the desk next to my bed with my tapped telephone within reach, the afternoon air is much colder and through the window I see huge raindrops tapping the terrace in a maddening frenzy that makes me doubt whether the national march of protest planned by Malta' s General Workers Union on Republic Street in Valletta may be held at all.

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A telephone call, however, made, an hour or so later, by a colleague very active in the Malta Arise Front, relieved my anxiety when he assured me that women and men of the middle and working classes were already gathering in thousands.

''The sky has mercifully given us a break'' said the peaceful militant, "and the crowd already assembled is large enough to stand or march in serried ranks to shield the protesters from the bitter cold'' Meanwhile another Front volunteer reported to me on his mobile that the Business Section of the Commonwealth Secretariat are suggesting through the Maltese minister; Austin Gatt - the bete noire of the local Maltese and English Press and the General Workers Union for betting publicly that our manufacturing industry is bound to disappear altogether in the very near future- the setting up of a Commonwealth I.T. Consortium.

The star performer of this Section of the Commonwealth Heads of governments Conference is the spokesman for the English global aspirant Cable and Wireless who charmed the other businessmen present and starving for new ideas with his Company's plans for similar I.T. undertakings. The blatant courting of Cable and Wireless points to a probable weakening of Austin's links with the foremost businessman of the U.S.A. - the owner of Microsoft who has been encouraged to dominate the computer facilities of Malta's educational sphere. Austin's relations with the American mogul do not appear to be as warm as they were before his recent skirmish with the leaders of our General Workers Union.

In the Sports Sector of this bi-annual Common Wealth Conference, the Chairman - a Jamaican with a very moderate patriotic attachment to the interests of his homeland - has appealed to Britain's ex-colonies to participate and sponsor the Common Wealth's sporting event for young Sportsman to be held in Australia in the very near future.

Referring specifically to Malta and Jamaica the Chairman mentioned that these countries do not have the adequate infrastructure to qualify as

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successors to Australia in the foreseeable future. No one has raised the possibility that Jamaica may combine with other ex-colonies of the Caribbean's or easier for Malta to combine her commitment to participate by cooperating with the Maltese community in Australia and together with them sponsor teams or individuals to compete under a Maltese flag.

Such a cooperation could eventually be stronger when it comes to Canada's trun to host this CommonWealth showpiece. Otherwise there will be no moral or financial scope for these small countries to limit their economic resources and discontinue their participation in other international and more affluent sports organizations.

In answer to my wish to have some information about the Section of Foreign Ministers of which I had never heard before their arrival in this country, my Socialist friend who is still very active in Malta's Foreign office and therefore does not want to divulge his name without his written approval, tells me;

This sector was launched some time ago in order to shorten the stay of the Head of States away from their respective countries and have their Foreign Ministers arrive at the venue a day or two before the official opening of the Conference of the Heads of Government. Thus Blair has had three of his Ministers their affairs with their respective counterparts from the other ex-colonies. They also have the task to discuss new proposals of their own and polish in discussion other proposals submitted and circulated by the Common Wealth Secretariat.

By this clever device it is hoped to stifle the mischievous interpretation given in some hostile quarters to the unfortunate informal appellation of the Conference as the Club of the Heads of States where the Heads of states and their spouses may spend a luxurious business - cum - leisure series of pleasant encounters with their counterparts. No one in his right senses in this turbulent age wishes to be interpreted as committing such peccadilloes at the expense of poor taxpayers.

Even against this somber background the assembled Foreign Ministers have not so far launched new initiatives. Not a single proposal that I have seen tabled - the alleviation of starvation in the poorest countries, the raising of living standards in underdeveloped states, cooperation on Security, promotion of Human Rights, the eradication of HIV and other infectious diseases killing other fellow humans by the millions, giving hospitality to
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suicidal immigrants who prefer to face death rather than stay put in their African homes were a worse fate awaits them - are already subjects under

discussion by Britain, Malta and other African countries in more adequate international fora such as the European Union and the United Nations.

Blair and his Ministers seem to be of the opinion that the help of Common Wealth countries is needed for a reversal of their Foreign policy. Blair is evidently finding it very hard although he is now the head of all the member states to convince the European Union that he now wishes to discontinue his close relations with Bush in their wars in Iraq and elsewhere. These major errors have earned Blair the vituperation of the militants in his own Labour party and more deeds than words are required for Britain to have some credibility.

But I don't see any chance that the present British setup would abide by the advice which you, for lack of an invitation to attend the Conference communicated to Blair to through the confidential contacts you had with the British High Commissioner of Malta.

I take it that yours was a two pronged advice mainly:

a) Blair should reform the Common Wealth Conference for which Britain's taxpayer forks out the greatest share of its expenses, by helping the small countries and the poorer ones like India and South Africa to have a new Common Wealth Organisation were they will be treated as equals and therefore would feel ready and willing to share all burdens for achieving the common goals of peace and a better quality of life for all human beings irrespective of their political or religious beliefs without any sexual, racial and colour of skin discrimination.

b) Blair should also before being forced to or voluntarily abandon his exalted office make amends by disavowing his neo- Thatcherite past and her war against Argentina which though in appearance seemed legal and legitimate has resulted without any gain to either side and the loss of tremendous amount of blood and much needed funds of the British and Argentine peoples.

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''I am a pessimist, I don't see how at your nanogerian age will happen in your lifetime. Much less do I believe that either Blair or Brown has the political guts to steer an immobile European Union and Bush's USA away from their imperialistic paths to those of peoples' power and peace" I do not share my friend's pessimism and if I had more space I would have explained in some length why I do not agree.

Dom Mintoff

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"Malta Arise Front" manifesto

Click on image to enlarge


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25^th October 2002

Who are we?

We are a small but brave people who survived without dominating and oppressing other communities.

Yet, no other country has suffered as much as Malta from the wars waged by others in the past.

Malta was given the highest possible decoration by Britain and the United States of America for her bravery during the last World War. Yet, these countries denied Malta those means for survival which they had gladly given to their former enemies – those who were about to wipe out America and Britain during the biggest conflict the world has ever seen.

As if this misfortune had not been overwhelming, Malta had to risk her entire existence in order to gain her freedom and independence from Britain and NATO – that freedom and independence recognized as the fundamental right of every nation.

In spite of these grave offences, Malta chose the road of peace and friendship with the nations of the West as well as of the East. This policy of neutrality enabled us to enjoy the greatest ever measure of political freedom and economic prosperity.

However, owing to the fact that our national economy started to develop freely in the pursuit of peace at least thirty years after that of other European countries, we are not yet fully competitive in industry and commerce. It would therefore be suicidal to abandon the road we have undertaken out of caprice, partisanship or deceit.

What stage have we reached?

Malta has long felt the need to benefit from the moral and material incentives offered by European countries. This explains why 30 years ago we concluded an ‘Association Agreement’ with the European Economic Community. And that form of close yet not full membership with the Community was adopted as a model by those other countries who, like us, chose to work closely with the Community without the obligations and rights of full membership.
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It is worth remembering that in the early 1970’s at Helsinki Malta succeeded in convincing all the participating States that peace should not only be made secure for the countries of Northern Europe – there could be no European security without Mediterranean security.

Even more important was the fact that Malta, taking cognisance of its small physical size and population which rendered it impossible to raise modern arms for her defence resorted to secure her neutrality and freedom by concluding treaties with countries ranging from Western to Eastern Europe and the Arab world that guaranteed her sovereignty and neutrality.

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Those are the international ties that still enable us to live in freedom today. Doubtlessly , we would have advanced farther had we persevered in our previous efforts in all the civic sectors. Focusing our attention on the industrial sector, we cannot but perceive that Malta grasped and exploited all the opportunities for development by setting up factories on her soil jointly with German, English, Italian, Libyan and other foreign industrialists.

Our Fundamental Values

Taking into account all past pronouncements, everyone in Malta should agree on two fundamental values: peace and neutrality.

Why peace? To survive Malta needs it more than any other country in the world. Because of our diminutive size and the destructive power of modern armaments Malta will be wiped out entirely in a state of war. In one fell swoop we will lose everything that we achieved through years of toil in the pursuit of peace.

In any new agreement with the European Union we should therefore stress that Malta’s efforts for peace should remain unhindered.

We could do more by underlining the need for the pursuit of peace by the European Union to which we would give our full contribution. We would in particular be ready to share with the Union a common sovereignty solely in the affairs for the achievement of a common peace.

This would naturally become easier when the European Union embraces neutrality and renounces all arms for wars of aggression.

What is the meaning of our neutrality? We aspire for the elbow room and the opportunity to work alongside every State, people, community or individuals who, like us, are striving to bring all wars to an end so that we may all live like brothers in peace without injuring one another.

Is it possible to work closely with the European Union when we hold those values fundamental for the life of our country? The answer is yes. We have tried in the past and we succeeded.

Only hard work can guarantee our prosperity

We have another fundamental objective – safeguarding work in our country for that is the only means of increasing the wealth of our people.

We should therefore patiently explain to the European Union that Malta should not be burdened with regulations which might decrease work opportunities in our country and hamper our economic growth.

Such regulations, if implemented, would result in our inability to make any meaningful contribution to world peace. Unless we become strong in the economic sense we will be denying ourselves the possibility to work for peace and help other people in the process.

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Only hard work can guarantee our prosperity

We have another fundamental objective – safeguarding work in our country for that is the only means of increasing the wealth of our people.

We should therefore patiently explain to the European Union that Malta should not be burdened with regulations which might decrease work opportunities in our country and hamper our economic growth.

Such regulations, if implemented, would result in our inability to make any meaningful contribution to world peace. Unless we become strong in the economic sense we will be denying ourselves the possibility to work for peace and help other people in the process.

To reach all these objectives we must proclaim to our people the necessity for harder work, with judicious application, greater integrity and sustainable sacrifices.

We must do the utmost to call a halt to the national debt and wipe it entirely before it destroys our country.

Only if we succeed to do this shall we be able to leave our children and the children of our children a valid inheritance and not a millstone around their necks.

Our aspiration

In the past we have worked closely with a Europe intent, like us, on efforts to make peace possible in the Mediterranean. We have done so without undue restrictions that might have hindered their work or ours.

We can see no new circumstance to oblige us or them to abandon the road which kept us together until today.

We strongly believe that it is in the interest of the European Union as well as of our own to reinforce the efforts we have made so far.

We see no gain in abandoning a proven road for a new one which to others might appear momentarily more attractive but which, in the long run, will bring all of us into grief.

We hope that the European Union will concur fully with our views. But above all we are confident that all citizens of Malta and Gozo will agree with us that Malta should now arise.

To all those who subscribe to our common objectives we appeal for joining the "Malta Arise" Front.

Dom Mintoff

Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici

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Min ahna?

Ahna poplu zghir u qalbieni li kompla jghix minghajr ma hakem u kasbar gnus ohra.

Izda ebda pajjiz ma sofra daqs il-poplu Malti minhabba l-gwerer li saru fl-imghoddi.

Allavolja fl-ahhar gwerra Malta kisbet tifhir specjali mill-Ingilterra u l-Amerika ghall-qlubija li l-poplu Malti wera, b’danakollu dawna cahduna mill-ghodda ghall-ghajxien li huma wasslu bil-ferh lill-ghedewwa taghhom li b’cikka ma qerduhomx ghal kollox fl-akbar tilwima li qatt rat id-dinja.

Bhallikieku dan l-ghawg ghal Malta ma kienx bizzejjed, Malta ssugrat kolox sabiex tikseb l-indipendenza u l-helsien mill-hakma Ingliza u tan-NATO dak il-helsien li huwa dritt fondamentali ghal kull poplu taht il-kappa tax-xemx.

Malta nsiet l-ghawg u mxiet fit-triq ta’ paci u hbiberija kemm mal-pajjizi tal-Punent u ukoll tal-Lvant. B’din il-politika ta’ newtralita’ rnexxielna nkattru l-helsien politiku u niksbu l-akbar prosperita’ ekonomika li qatt ra pajjizna.

Izda, ghax ahna bdejna f’din it-triq millanqas tletin sena wara l-pajjizi l-ohra ta’ l-Ewropa, ghad ma ninsabux f’qaghda li nikkompetu maghhom fil-qasam industrijali u kummercjali. Ghalhekk ikun
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suwicidju ghalina li nabbandunaw it-triq li qeghdin fiha b’kapricc, b’pika jew b’ingann.

Fejn ahna

Malta ilha li hasset il-htiega li tikseb in`entivi morali u materjali mill-pajjizi ta’ l-Ewropa. Ghalhekk tletin sena ilu ghamilna ‘Association Agreement’ mal-Komunita’ Ekonomika Ewropea, u dik il-forma ta’ shubija qrib il-Komunita’, izda mhux membru taghha, serviet ta’ mudell ghal pajjizi ohra li bhalna xtaqu li, minghajr ma jidhlu membri tal-Komunita’, jaghmlu shubija maghha.

Infakkru li, minkejja c-cokon taghna, fil-bidu tas-snin sebghin, f’Helsinki rnexxielna nwasslu lil kull pajjiz sabiex jaqbel li l-paci ma kellhiex issehh fl-Ewropa ta’ Fuq biss, izda kellha tinfirex ukoll fil-Mediterran.

Aktar importanti kien il-fatt li ghas-sigurta’, il-helsien u n-newtralita’ ta’ pajjizna, Malta, li tant hi zghira li mhux possibbli ghaliha li jkollha armati li jieqfu lil haddiehor, irnexxielha li taghmel trattati li jiggarantixxu s-sovranita’ u n-newtralita’ ta’ pajjizna ma’ pajjizi kbar, kemm ma' ta’ l-Ewropa tal-Lvant, kif ukoll ma’ ta' l-Ewropa tal-Punent, u anki mal-pajjizi tad-Dinja Gharbija.

Dan sa fejn wasalna llum. Ma hemmx dubju li konna naslu aktar, kieku bqajna nistinkaw fl-oqsma kollha. Niehdu biss il-qasam industrijali ahna htafna l-opportunitajiet li rajna u wzajnihom biex nizviluppaw ma’ industrijalisti Germanizi, Inglizi, Taljani, Libjani u ohrajn.

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Il-valuri fondamentali

Il-valuri fondamentali li kulhadd f’Malta ghandu jaqbel dwarhom huma tnejn: il-pa`i u n-newtralita’.

Ghaliex il-paci? Malta tehtigilha l-pa`i aktar minn kulhadd. Minhabba c-cokon taghna, bl-armi tal-lum f’pajjizna jinqered kollox bi gwerra. Nitilfu kull ma ksibna s’issa bil-politika ta’ pa`i.

Ghalhekk, fir-rabtiet taghna ma’ l-Unjoni Ewropeja rridu nassiguraw li l-hidma taghna ghall-pa`i tibqa’ bla mittiefsa.

Ghandna naghmlu aktar minn hekk. Ahna nemmnu li anki l-Unjoni Ewropea jehtigilha l-paci. Ghalhekk ghandna naghtuha l-kontribut taghna ghall-harsien tal-pa`i.

Jekk l-Unjoni Ewropea tasal biex thaddan politika ta’ paci billi tichad ghal dejjem il-gwerra, ghandna nkunu lesti naqsmu maghha dik il-parti tas-sovranita’ biex jintlahaq l-ghan komuni taghna tal-pa`i.

Xi tfisser in-newtralita’ ghalina? Tfisser li ahna jkollna l-ispazju, li jkollna n-nifs, li jkun possibbli ghalina li nahdmu id f’id ma’ kull nazzjon, poplu, komunita’ u individwu li bhalna jridu li jinqerdu l-gwerer u li l-bnedmin jghixu bhal ahwa, minghajr ma naghmlu hsara lil xulxin.

Hu possibbli nahdmu ma’ l-Unjoni Ewropea meta ghandna dawn il-valuri u htigijiet fundamentalissimi ghal pajjizna? Inwiegbu iva ghaliex fl-imghoddi pprovajna u rnexxielna

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Il-gid mix-Xoghol

Ghandna ghan kbir iehor li nharsu x-xoghol f’pajjizna u li nkattru l-mezzi ghall-holqien tal-gid ghall-poplu taghna.

Ghalhekk irridu nfiehmu lill-Unjoni Ewropea li m’ghandhiex ixxekkilna b’regoli li jnaqqsu x-xoghol f’pajjizna u li ma jghinuniex biex nikbru ekonomikament.

Infiehmu wkoll lill-Unjoni Ewropea li biex aktar nahdmu ghall-pa`i, jaqbel li ma nfixklux il-kisba ta’ aktar xoghol u hidma ekonomika f’pajjizna. Aktar ma nkunu b’sahhitna ekonomikament, aktar nistghu nahdmu ghall-paci u nghinu lil haddiehor.

Lill-poplu taghna nghidulu li biex nilhqu l-ghanijiet taghna jehtigilna nahdmu aktar, b’ghaqal izjed, b’aktar onesta’ u b’sagrificcji akbar.

Irridu nkunu lesti naghmlu kull ma hemm bzonn halli l-ewwel inwaqqfu t-tkabbir tad-dejn nazzjonali, u mbaghad neqirdu ghal kollox id-dejn li jkisser lil pajjizna.

Jekk biss naghmlu dan inkunu nitghu nserrhu rasna li lil uliedna u lil ulied uliedna ser inhallulhom wirt tajjeb u mhux djun kbar li johonquhom.

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Tamietna

Ahna hdimna ma’ Ewropa li bhalna kienet turi li tixtieq tistinka biex ikun hawn il-pa`i fil-Mediterran. M'ghamilniex dan b’irbit li seta’ jxekkel kemm lilna u kemm lin-naha l-ohra. Ma narawx ghaliex ghandna nitbieghdu minn dik it-triq li mxejna fiha sal-lum.

Ahna nhossu li kemm ghall-Unjoni Ewropea u kemm ghalina jaqbel li nkomplu ninfurzaw dak li ghamilna sal-lum, u ma jaqbilx li nabbandunawh biex naqbdu triq ohra li forsi haddiehor ihoss li ghall-mument hija ahjar, imma li zgur fit-tul iggib hsara lil kulhadd.

Nittamaw li l-Unjoni Ewropea taqbel maghna. Izda qabel kollox nittamaw li l-Maltin u l-Ghawdxin ta’ rieda tajba lkoll jaqblu maghna li Malta jehtigilha tqum.

Lil kull min jaqbel maghna f’dawn l-ghanijiet, inhegguh jissieheb fil-front "Maltin Inqumu".

Dom Mintoff

Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici