Malta

V

Government of Malta

Until 1974, Malta was a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary form of government. The head of state was the British monarch, represented in Malta by a governor general. Under the amended constitution of 1974, Malta became a democratic republic with a president serving as head of state. The president is appointed by the Maltese parliament to serve a term of five years.

The head of government is a prime minister appointed by the president from among the members of the House of Representatives, a single-chamber parliament composed of 65 members. Members of the parliament are elected for five-year terms by universal adult suffrage on the basis of proportional representation. The prime minister, who is assisted by a cabinet, is usually the leader of the majority party in parliament. The tenure of the prime minister and cabinet (also called the government) depends on the support of the House of Representatives.

Malta’s two major political parties are the conservative Nationalist Party (Partit Nazzjonalista-PN) and the democratic socialist Malta Labour Party (MLP).

Malta is a member of the United Nations (UN), the Commonwealth of Nations, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe, and the European Union.

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VI

History of Malta

Malta was settled by an ancient farming people who migrated from what is now Sicily about 4000 BC. The arrival of Copper Age cultural influences around 3200 BC resulted in the development of a remarkably complex temple-building civilization. At first Malta’s megalithic monuments were constructed from slabs of rough-hewn stone, but eventually structures such as the great temples at Tarxien were crafted from carefully dressed and fitted blocks of masonry. The temples are among the earliest known major stone monuments built by humans. The temple culture went into an unexplained decline after 2400 BC.

By about 1000 BC Malta had become a Phoenician trading center. In 736 bc the islands were occupied by the ancient Greeks, who called them the colony Melita, and later Malta passed successively into the possession of Carthage and Rome (Roman Empire). The islands prospered agriculturally under Roman rule and developed an export trade based on textiles and some luxury items. In about AD 60 the missionary Saint Paul was shipwrecked on the islands and, according to lore, converted the Maltese people to Christianity.

When the collapsing Roman Empire was divided in ad 395, Malta was awarded to the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire. Byzantine rule lasted until 870, when the islands were occupied by Muslim Arabs. The Arabs had a profound influence on local life. The Maltese language and many traditional agricultural practices date from this period. A Norman army conquered the Maltese Arabs in 1090, and Malta was later made a feudal fief of the Norman kingdom of Sicily. Muslim Arabs continued to form an important part of Malta’s community until the 1240s, when they were expelled. The islands eventually became part of the kingdom of Aragón, and when Aragón unified with Castile, Malta was made a possession of imperial Spain.

A

Development Under the Knights of Malta

In 1530 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V granted Malta to a military religious order called the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, later known as the Knights of Malta. The knights used Malta as a base of operations against the Ottoman Turks (see Ottoman Empire) and the raiding corsairs of the Barbary Coast, who were upheld by the Turks. The knights ruled the islands until the 19th century, developing Malta as a center of commerce.

In 1565 a large Turkish force under Süleyman I attacked Malta. The greatly outnumbered knights held out throughout the summer-long siege, which shattered many of Malta’s defensive fortifications. The knights eventually drove off the Turkish forces with the help of a relief force from Sicily. Following the siege, the knights built a new capital city, Valletta, on the rocky peninsula that separates and commands Grand Harbour and Marsamxett. The city took its name from Jean Parisot de La Valette, who led the knights against the Turks. The knights fortified Valletta so well that it became one of the greatest strongholds in the Mediterranean.

The knights were absolutist rulers and governed the islands with little regard for the inhabitants, who were denied full membership in the order. The order owned property in many parts of Europe, and each year a percentage of the income from this wealth was sent to Malta, where it was used to support the elegant living of the knights and to build fortifications, equip the navy, and hire soldiers.

The infusion of the funds under the knights had a profound effect on Malta’s landscape and economy. The knights laid out numerous towns, including Valletta; built defensive bastions around the harbors; and ringed the coast with smaller detached fortifications. Shipbuilding and ship repairing grew in scale and importance, as did secondary industries such as sail and rope making, metal working, and carpentry. The knights built palaces, churches, bakeries, hospitals, and armories, and they invested money in wharves, warehouses, urban property, and agricultural land. Efforts were made to encourage trade, with Malta’s fleet giving a degree of protection to merchant vessels. The Maltese found employment as soldiers, servants, craftspeople, and laborers, and many residents moved to coastal towns. Living conditions in Malta gradually improved, and the population expanded from about 20,000 in 1530 to approximately 100,000 in 1798.

B

British Rule Established

In 1798 a French force under Napoleon Bonaparte (later Napoleon I) on its way to Egypt expelled the knights. French rule was so unpopular that the Maltese rose in revolt in the same year. The Maltese appealed to Britain, and in 1799 British naval officer Horatio Nelson besieged Valletta and compelled the withdrawal of the French. By the terms of the Treaty of Paris, in 1814, Malta became a colony of the British Empire.

The British did not begin large-scale development of military facilities until the 1840s, but Malta rapidly gained importance as a naval base during the Crimean War (1853-1856) and especially with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. The growth of dockyard facilities, particularly at Valletta, eventually provided jobs for 12,000 persons.

The Maltese increasingly demanded self-government during the 19th century. The British were prepared to encourage a degree of internal self-government, but Britain wished to retain control over all matters affecting its imperial interests. Movement toward constitutional reform was slow. Various constitutions, including one providing for self-government, were tried and rejected as a result either of friction among Maltese political factions or of conflicts between civil and imperial interests.

During World War I, Malta served as a base for British activities in the Mediterranean. As a reward for its help, the colony was given a constitution that established a legislature elected by Malta’s inhabitants. However, political crises resulted in the revocation of the constitution in 1936. During World War II (1939-1945) political differences were set aside, and Malta became a key base in the successful Allied struggle for North Africa. Consequently, Malta withstood heavy Axis bombing raids during the war. In 1942 British king George VI awarded the colony as a whole the George Cross for heroism.

C

Independence Gained

In 1947 full internal self-government was reestablished in Malta. However, the constitution was suspended in 1959 as a result of strife between the two major political parties—the Malta Labour Party (MLP) and the Nationalist Party (PN). A new constitution was introduced in 1961. The following year, in the campaign preceding the first election under the new constitution, the MLP called for independence outside the Commonwealth of Nations. The PN advocated independence within the Commonwealth. The PN won the election, and their leader, George Borg Olivier, became prime minister.

Malta became independent on September 21, 1964, and a United Nations (UN) member on December 1. Soon after independence the British and Maltese governments signed a ten-year agreement on mutual defense and assistance by which Britain undertook to pay Malta $12 million annually in grants and loans as rent for its military facilities.

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