Political and economic trends in Malta, 1964-1974

Abstract

Political and economic trends in Malta 1964-1974 is a highlight of the first decade after Malta obtained her political independence from Britain. This dissertation is divided into four chapters which span these years and are in such order as to give the reader a perspective of both the economic and the political spheres. The first chapter deals with political trends from 1964 until 1971. This chapter attempts to provide a synthesis of main political trends, from the early months of 1964, prior to political independence, until the general elections of June 1971, thus covering seven years of Nationalist administration. It looks at how this administration sought to deal with its domestic and foreign policy. It aims to show how this administration sought to keep good relations with Britain and generally adopted a Western foreign policy, which included the first agreement with the EEC. Nonetheless there were also major challenges which were to be addressed by it, such as the proposed forces rundown of 1967 and other pressing issues in Home affairs such as industrial unrest. The second chapter covers the main economic trends of Malta during the same period. It highlights some of the improvements of the economic sector during this era. These include the main challenges brought about by diversification and the subsequent economic plans. Other issues dealt with in this chapter are industrial development and the formation of bodies such as the Malta Development Corporation and the Central Bank, which were used both as regulators and to support entrepreneurship. Primary industries and the development of the tourism sector are also covered. The intention was that these industries would flourish to such an extent as to gradually replace the military service sector. The next four years are addressed in chapter three and four. In chapter three there is a resume of the radical changes in policies which took place upon the change m government in June 1971. This was manifested during the negotiations with Britain over the rental of military facilities. The shift from a pro-western foreign policy to a more neutralist policy, which led to a diplomatic relationship with communist-led countries such as the Peoples' Republic of China, and the hard-line policies in international diplomatic fora as manifested in the CSCE conference at Helsinki in 1973, are also covered in this chapter. Another important milestone mentioned here is the constitutional transition from a monarchy to a republic in the status of the Maltese islands. Chapter four describes the handling of economic sectors by the new MLP administration. The reader can also find a resume of how the manufacturing industries were set to develop and the industrial investment during this period. This chapter deals with the policy reviews regarding the primary industries. It also addresses the challenges which the administration had to face in the course of the protracted discussions with Britain over the military base rent, such as that faced by the tourist sector, which suffered a sharp drop in British tourist arrivals during that period. By way of conclusion, this dissertation briefly reviews the main trends and their impact as described in the preceding chapters.