POWERING DEMOCRACY: LOOKING AHEAD TO CHOGM 2015
POWERING DEMOCRACY: LOOKING AHEAD TO CHOGM 2015 IN MALTA
Hon Dr Godfrey Farrugia MP is a Member of the Parliament of Malta and a Government Whip. A family doctor by profession, he has held numerous public posts and was Mayor of his home town between 1993 and 2000. Elected to Parliament in 2013, he also served as a Minister of Health and is head delegate for OSCE (PA) and IPU.
The shores of the Mediterranean have acted as the cradles of some of the world’s greatest civilisations, as much as they have been their reluctant tomb. It is the spectacular restless navel of the planet where North meets South and East merges into West, where bloody battles for supremacy of the world have been fought and where many a valiant warrior has met the end. To this day, the
Mediterranean area remains a high tension zone with ceaseless wars ravaging its ancient East, revolutions and civil wars unsettling its South, and financial debt ridden wars tear away at the heart of its North.
This ‘Middle’ sea seems to be that nucleus of our planet where three continents and
their legacies clash, merge and ultimately fuse to produce the most diverse, colourful, vibrant, culturally rich spot that mankind can create. And the Maltese Archipelago occupies a very privileged spot right in the centre of this ‘Middle’ sea.
It is no wonder that our little grand islands are peppered by splendid architectural relics and precious artefacts, representative of all the stages that have marked the progress of human presence on this earth since time immemorial. The rich heritage in stone that played witness to the rise and fall of civilisations empires and kingdoms, is complimented by the continued existence of the Maltese people whose very existence, genetic make-up, language, culture and traditions
remain the personification of global ethnic fusion at its best. After a very turbulent past characterised by the successive domination or colonisation by the consecutive masters of the Mediterranean, Malta succeeded in gaining its freedom.
Just over half a century ago, on the 21 September 1964, Malta became independent. Ten years later on the 13 December 1974, the little Archipelago, home to less than half a million people, became a Republic, boasting its own Head of State for the first time in its chequered history.
Since then successive governments in a Parliamentary democracy, have managed to create a sustainable and thriving economy. This robust, brisk economic activity based mainly on tourism, financial services, maritime and aviation services, e-gaming and manufacturing among other things, in turn supports a healthy standard of living for its citizens. Free comprehensive health care and free education from kindergarten up to a tertiary leve, and a programme of ongoing social welfare reforms has ensured the eradication of poverty on the islands that was rife after the ravages of the Second World War. An educated digitally savvy population, supported by a diverse pluralistic culture entrenched in a deep
204 | The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue Three
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