Great article by Maltese Nationalist - Dott. Victor Ragonesi

[Ederico]

The man was Secretary General of the Partit Nazzjonalista (Nationalist Party, but I don't like saying it in English ) at the time when Malta gained independence and when the party was not hijacked. I happen to have met him occasionally, solid old gentleman and a true nationalist.


The Times & The Sunday Times, Malta


Talking Point

Outside interference

Victor E. Ragonesi

Recently the media referred to the proposals of the Nationalist Party that Maltese citizens living in EU countries should have the right to vote in the general election and that, as Malta is a member of the EU, the law referring to outside interference in our affairs should be abolished.
I refer to the last proposal.

When Malta achieved independence, it regained sovereignty. This sovereignty should not be renounced where basic, national interests are concerned, because we are members of the EU in a manner to become members in a federation of sovereign, independent states, as Charles de Gaulle had initially termed the Union.

When and where basic national interests are concerned, the last word and decision should rest with us, and us alone. As an independent state we have not joined the EU to become dupes and servants of the bureaucratic system and omnipotence in Brussels. Our independence and sovereignty should not be given up and lost, not even for all the gold in the world.
Now I refer to the alleged PN proposal to grant to Maltese citizens living abroad in EU countries the right to vote in a general election.

The PN won the 1962 general election under the leadership of George Borg Olivier who became Prime Minister. On attaining that position, he immediately requested the UK to grant independence to Malta. During the protracted negotiations in Malta and in London, at some junction in time when "citizenship" was being discussed, the Malta Labour Party proposed that Maltese citizens, living abroad, should have the right to vote in local general elections.

The Nationalist government strenuously opposed such a proposal, stating that, inter alia, a local government should be elected by citizens who were ordinarily resident in Malta, were cognisant of all matters concerning rights, duties, benefits, encumbrances and, above all, paying all local taxes and fees according to law.

The principle no taxation without representation should always apply. And vice-versa too! The policy of the Nationalist government prevailed, and the MLP proposal was not adopted.

Let us come to brass tacks. As a citizen of Malta, well aware of all the constitutional, political, financial, economic and social positions and matters prevailing here from time to time, why should my future, and that of future generations, be determined by citizens, albeit Maltese, who are not fully cognisant of such conditions at the time of a general election; and, above all, the benefits and the encumbrances I would have been subjected to during the previous years affecting the conditions of my life and that of all others during the succeeding five years, especially in the eventuality that my burdens and encumbrances exceed the benefits accruing to me and subsequent generations?

In the eventuality that Maltese citizens living in EU countries are allowed to vote in general elections here, how can a Maltese government reasonably refuse to grant a similar right to all Maltese citizens living in Australia, Canada, the UK and the US? As a consequence of the law being amended in 1989 and 1992, all citizens abroad retaining Maltese citizenship must now exceed 150,000!

The PN proposal does not make sense, in the overall interests of national responsibilities, and not in the restricted interests of a political party. The proposal should be abandoned and discarded. It is neither nationalistically nor pseudo-nationalistically conceived.

It is trusted that all politicians, irrespective of party allegiance, will evaluate, in the overall national interests, all these factors.