Malta became a sovereign State in 1964 but not according to Festivals Malta

Updated at 3:02pm with Festivals Malta correction

Festivals Malta has issued a correction to its statement in which it mischaracterised Freedom Day as the day when Malta “officially became a sovereign state”.

Malta became a sovereign state when it achieved independence on 21 September 1964, a full 15 years earlier. Malta joined the United Nations soon after.

Freedom Day represents the closure of the British military base and the departure of the last foreign forces from Malta on 31 March 1979.

The Festivals Malta statement on behalf of the Committee for National Feasts was disseminated by the Department of Information on Thursday afternoon to announce the official programme for Sunday's Freedom Day ceremony in Birgu.

However, in a subsequent statement Festivals Malta dropped the reference to sovereignty and described Freedom Day as the day when Malta "achieved constitutional freedom and marks the closure of the British military base".

Whatever 'constitutional freedom' means is anybody's guess since Malta's Constitution was first drafted in 1964 and amended by the Maltese parliament in 1974 when Malta became a republic with a Maltese head of state.

Even if by mistake, the choice of words to equate Freedom Day with sovereignty plays into the historical political rift that colours the two national days.

Independence Day has historically been appropriated by the Nationalist Party since it was under a PN government led by George Borg Olivier that Malta obtained independence from British rule. Nonetheless, British forces were still allowed to operate on the island and certain areas were off limits to the Maltese, a situation which led Labour supporters to describe independence as “a farse”.

A file photo of then president George Abela inspecting a guard of honour: In 2012 he made the case for two national days - Independence and Republic Day

Upon being elected to government in 1971, a Labour government led by Dom Mintoff renegotiated the lease agreement for the British base and extended it until 31 March 1979 when the last of the military forces departed from Malta. As a consequence, Freedom Day was historically appropriated by the Labour Party with supporters hailing it as “true independence”.

Historians agree that Independence Day was the moment in history when the Maltese sovereign State was born and in a speech delivered in December 2012, then president George Abela had gone as far as saying the country should commemorate only two national days – independence on 21 September and Republic Day on 13 December, achieved in 1974.

Malta is quite unique in that it celebartes five national holidays – Freedom Day on 31 March, Sette Giugno riots on 7 June, Victory Day on 8 September, Independence Day on 21 September and Republic Day on 13 December.

Official programme

The statement gives a rundown of the official ceremony to mark the 45th anniversary of Freedom Day that will take place on Sunday in Birgu.

The official programme starts at 8:15am when the Armed Forces of Malta band will march from Pjazza Pawlino Vassallo in Bormla all the way to the Freedom Day monument in Birgu.

An AFM guard of honour will greet President George Vella, Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition leader Bernard Grech. They will then proceed up the monument to place flowers and the AFM band will play the Freedom anthem.

The ceremony will end with the playing of the national anthem.

The official ceremony is being held earlier than normal not to disrupt the traditional Easter procession runs that take place in Bormla and Birgu.