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12 TO those of us who – like myself – were born into Independent Malta, the very idea of not being an inde- pendent country may be hard to fathom. Yet as we celebrate 50 years of existence as an autonomous, sov- ereign state, it is worth remembering that the circumstances of the day involved quite the opposite dynam- ic. Many people back then simply couldn't conceive how such a tiny is- land, with little or no resources of its own, could even survive on its own steam. One person who certainly remem- bers this is President Emeritus (and former Education Minister) Ugo Mif- sud Bonnici, who was a young lawyer and member of the Nationalist Party when the terms of independence were being negotiated under Prime Minister George Borg Olivier. Sitting in the living room of his impressive residence at the heart of Bormla – once the motor of Malta's pre-independence economy – Mif- sud Bonnici recalls that part of the difficulty involved convincing a scep- tical public of the benefits of taking a leap in the dark. "Some people had misgivings. Not just economic misgivings, but also of a political nature. For some people in Malta, (Labour leader) Mr Min- toff was viewed as a threat to their way of life. Some thought that when he would eventually achieve power, with independence there would be no restraint on what were deemed to be his excesses. Ganado. Pellegrini. Mabel Strickland... these were all apprehensive about the prospect of Mintoff coming into power." Instantly we are transported back to a time when Maltese politics was very much a multi-partisan affair: when (unlike today) decisions had to be taken in the context of multi- party negotiation. "The situation was complex. Gana- do and Pellegrini always affirmed they were in favour of independence… but not then. Mabel Strickland, on the other hand, always considered independence to be a disaster. In fact, when Malta became independ- ent, one of her close circle of friends said it was 'a black day for Malta'. Things have turned out completely different, in the sense that when Mr Mintoff did achieve power…" He pauses as if searching for the right word. I point out that some people, even today, would argue that those predictions did at least partly come true… "It was a little bit… turbulent," he admits. "Mintoff's time in power was in some ways difficult. But the coun- try itself was able to return to full and normal democracy." At the same time, back in the early 1960s there was no actual guaran- tee that Malta would, in fact, always remain democratic. How seriously were these considerations taken at the time? "The position was that you never have a guarantee. I can say that George Borg Olivier knew at the time that he was taking a risk. But he also had trust in Mintoff not becoming a dictator. He always said that Mintoff would go to the brink, but never in fact become completely… a despot, let's call it that." Here the former President reminds me that despite the fire-and-brim- stone nature of 1960s Maltese poli- tics, there was also an understanding between Malta's two foremost politi- cians. "Borg Olivier knew Mintoff from university. They had a special rap- port. And Mintoff liked Borg Olivier. In fact, when there was the prob- lem of Borg Olivier's succession [in 1976], he once told me in the lobby in parliament; 'Why do you want to change him? He's the best man you have.' And he added: 'Borg Olivier really loves Malta…'." He smiles. "So I told him: 'Listen: we all love Malta. Not only Borg Ol- ivier. And not only you…" Other political forces were howev- er less trustful of the Labour leader's democratic credentials. "The bourgeoisie was afraid," Mif- sud Bonnici acknowledges. "And that is why a splinter Nationalist Party was formed: Ganado's party. But the rank and file of the PN still followed Borg Olivier. They still be- lieved in his trust in the destiny of Malta…" Meanwhile the entire discussion was underpinned by another dy- namic which simply no longer ex- ists. Before independence there was another, alternative political vision for Malta – 'Integration', pushed by Mintoff when he became prime minister in 1955. How realistic was that scenario, and how did the exist- ence of an alternative model impact Malta's independence negotiations? Mifsud Bonnici explains that Min- toff's vision of integration was not necessarily shared even by the is- land's pro-British sectors. "The Constitutional Party in the 1950s did not favour integration. They wanted to continue with what was effectively a subordinate role for Malta within the British Empire. They wanted Malta to be a state, they used to say; but always under the sovereignty of Britain. The CP was a pro-British party, in the sense that they were happy within the British scheme of things…" This also points to one of the para- doxes of Maltese political history. The Labour Party – which would eventually campaign under slogans such as 'Britain Go Home' – origi- nally grew out of the pro-British Constitutional Party. "It grew out of both. You can say that Mintoff was not only a Labour politician, but also, in many ways, a Nationalist. There was ambivalence: he had a British wife, but he con- ducted an anti-British campaign for a long period…." The picture that begins to emerge is that of a confluence of many seemingly contradictory factors. Pro-independence parties arguing against independence, and pro-Brit- ish parties resisting further integra- tion with Britain. "It was a complex scenario. First of all, you had a difficulty between Mintoff and the Church. So the fact that the Constitution, as proposed by the Nationalist government, provided certain guarantees for the Church, also won the support of the three parties who were not for inde- pendence immediately. They sided with Borg Olivier in Parliament when the Constitution was proposed, de- spite their misgivings. Borg Olivier therefore managed to pass the Con- stitution through parliament even though he had no real majority. In fact he had the same number of seats as the Opposition combined, and he could govern only because one mem- ber of the Ganado party crossed the floor. But when it came to the Con- stitution, it attracted the votes of the four members of the Ganado party, the four members of the Pellegrini party… even Mabel Strickland, albeit with some reservations." But Borg Olivier also had another trump card up his sleeve. "Mr Min- toff, though voting no to the Consti- tution in parliament and even in the referendum, was still declaring 'we want independence now'. He was in favour of independence, but against the Constitution. So in negotiations with the British government, Borg Olivier added his own 'yes' votes to the 'no' votes of Mintoff, on the grounds that he [Mintoff] was in fa- vour of Independence in principle. So Borg Olivier's negotiating plat- form was: 'Look, I have a majority for the Constitution, and I also have a majority for independence in gen- eral…" The argument seemed to work, also because Britain had interests of its own. "The British government was relinquishing its role as protec- tor of Western interests in the Medi- terranean; they wanted to relinquish the burden of the defence establish- ment in Malta. They could no longer afford to keep their position in the Mediterranean as it was at the time. They kept Cyprus, they kept Gibral- tar. But they thought that Malta was no longer that important…" This had a decisive impact on the nature of Malta's independence de- bate. "It created a substantial unity between the Nationalist and Labour parties. In fact, when Mr Mintoff's government [1955-58] tabled a mo- tion called 'Break with Britain', it was passed unanimously." He lays particular emphasis on the last word: suggesting that both PN and Labour had gravitated towards the same po- sition, albeit for different reasons. "While negotiating integration, a point came when Mintoff suddenly realised that the British wanted him to shoulder the burden of de-mobili- sation of the defence establishment. He realised that if he pressed ahead with integration, it would mean that the dockyard would be closed, result- ing in massive unemployment. He also wanted full equality – in wages, pensions, and so on – which the British were reluctant to concede. Mintoff understood that there was a sleight of hand going on here. So he switched from demanding integra- tion to demanding independence. And when he proposed this motion, the PN backed him: I remember they all started singing the Maltese an- them in parliament." Borg Olivier would eventually con- fide in Ugo Mifsud Bonnici the rea- sons for his controversial support for Mintoff at the time. "He told me, years later, that he had supported Mintoff's motion because that mo- tion buried integration. It was the beginning of a common front – even with all the polarisation between the two principal parties – asking for in- dependence from Britain." And yet, when it came to the ref- erendum just a few years later, the same basic fears were still in place. Many people were concerned that Malta would simply not be able to survive economically without the British military presence here. How did Borg Olivier manage to persuade a sceptical population to take the plunge? "It was a common fear at the time. We depended on the expenditure of the defence establishment, and there was no visible way of meeting our balance of payments in any other way. But this was a strange situa- tion; you have to understand that we couldn't develop our economy when we were almost exclusively an island fortress. The interests of the three services were paramount; everything was decided on the basis of whether it harmed the interest of defence or not. You couldn't build an economy on that foundation. This was Dr Borg Olivier's and Mr Mintoff's intuition. They understood that even though it would be difficult, independence was the only way it could be done." Nonetheless, he admits that it proved hard to impart that sense of optimism to the wider public. "Malta's business community, at the time, was a little bit more timid. They were not very enthusiastic about the prospects, because you couldn't say what would happen. But Borg Olivier and Mintoff… and, I must say, myself at that time… we all saw that it was impossible to have a proper economy while we were a British base. Even tourism: I remem- ber when, before independence, Borg Olivier was trying to get foreign investment. The first foreign invest- Interview By Raphael Vassallo maltatoday, SUNDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2014 Malta's great leap INEVITABLE You couldn't just continue under the British as we were before. Independence became not only desirable, but inevitable RISK George Borg Olivier knew at the time that he was taking a risk. But he also had trust in Mintoff not becoming a dictator