Secession - Is-Seċessjoni

Secession

From time to time we hear this word - secession, bandied about in the media. From the perspective today of Maltese nationals or emigrants in the diaspora, the word is included in foreign news reports. Perhaps some might ask what all the fuss is about. Should we even care? Indeed the issues may be quite serious and fundamental, and Malta is no stranger to these.

Secession occurs when part of a military or political body such as a state, a country or a military alliance, leaves the body or gains independence from the body and achieves the right to take decisions on its own future, i.e. achieve sovereignty. The reasons for desiring such a significant act may be varied, such as relief by a minority from oppression or threats by a majority, preservation of cultural attributes such as language from assimilation, prevention of perceived unjust distribution of resources etc.

The process of secession can range from being entirely peaceful to civil war. The people seeking it may variously be defined as freedom fighters or terrorists, depending on whose side one is on!

Whether the reasons offered by the secession seekers are deemed real or justified by impartial observers, deemed acceptable by the laws of the land or international law, and finally, formally accepted by other countries and/or institutions, are other, very important, and controversial questions altogether, and are beyond scope of this article.

The contemporary examples that spring to mind are the Russian-speaking Eastern part of Ukraine, and the Sunni Muslim uprising in Iraq and Syria.

Maltese people living in Malta will also be familiar with similar situations in surrounding countries, which may or may not include a fair amount violence involved. Within the UK, there is the planned independence referendum in Scotland, and for a long time there was a violent attempt to extricate Northern Ireland. Italy has its Lega Nord which at one stage openly advocated for an independent Padania though more recently pushes for a federal model, while Spain has its Basque and Catalan communities.

The Maltese in the North Americas will know about the deep divisions between the Francophile Quebecoise and the Anglophiles in the rest of Canada, with the US having a chequered history of its own.

Here in Australia, we are seemingly far from such considerations. However this masks past attempts by settler movements for further subdivisions of the well known states, such as in central¹ and north parts of Queensland in the 19th century, with the latter idea still current², and Western Australia in the 20th. To the north of Perth, there is also the existing self-proclaimed Principality of Hutt River³, unrecognised by Australia⁴ or other nations.

I am sure that all Maltese are very familiar with our country's own independence from the UK which was achieved in 1964 while still retaining the British monarch, until a republic was proclaimed in 1974. This came about after limited forms of self government granted at different times.

It may not be generally well known that Gozo had a short period of two years in the 18th century in which it was a state independent from Malta. This was a result of the rebellion by the Maltese against the French occupiers taking two years, with the French in Gozo capitulating immediately in 1798, and only surrendering in Malta in 1800. During these two years, although Gozo was formally claimed by King Ferdinand of Naples, it was in fact administered by Archpriest Francesco Saverio Cassar. The rebel-held parts of Malta were administered initially by an elected National Assembly and later by a Maltese Congress. When the French in Malta surrendered, this brief period of de facto Gozo independence ended and the British took both islands under its protection^{5 6}.

In our own times, sporadic calls for Gozo independence are raised at various times, however without any real widespread support.

Since 2004, Malta forms an integral part of the EU, an economic and political union which behaves in some respects like a federation of states. Malta's sovereignty is thus limited, as is the case of the other member states, with some powers handed over entirely to the EU (e.g. monetary policy for the Eurozone, competition policy), some powers are shared with other states (e.g. agriculture, environment) and others maintained (e.g. tourism, education).

I believe it is worth taking the time to understand the issues of sovereignty as raised in the various regions around the world. As was the case for our countrymen half a century ago, other peoples around the world may feel strongly about having the final say in their own affairs.

Is-Seċessjoni

Kull tant żmien, nisimgħu din il-kelma - seċessjoni - tissemma fil-midja. Mill-perspettiva illum ta' Maltin fil-pajjiż jew emigranti fid-dijaspora, il-kelma tinstab fl-aħbarijiet barranin. Forsi wieħed jistaqsi għalfejn dan l-għaġeb kollu. Suppost jimpurtana? Tabilħaqq, jista' jkun hemm kwistjonijiet serji u fundamentali, u Malta taf xi ħaġa fuq hekk.

Is-seċessjoni sseħħ meta parti minn entità militari jew politika, bħal stat, pajjiż jew alleanza militari, tħalli lil dik l-entità jew iġġib l-indipendenza mill-entità, u tiggwadanja d-dritt li tieħu deċiżjonijiet fuq il-futur tagħha, i.e. iġġib is-sovranità. Jista' jkun hemm raġunijiet varji li jwassal għal att hekk sinifikanti, bħas-serħan ta' minoranza minn oppressjoni jew theddid minn maġġoranza, il-preservazzjoni ta' karatteristiċi kulturali bħall-lingwa mill-assimilazzjonim, il-prevenzjoni ta' dak li jidher li jkun distribuzzjoni inġusta ta' riżorsi eċċ.

Il-proċess ta' seċessjoni jvarja minn wieħed paċifiku sa gwerra ċivili. In-nies li jkunu qed ifittxuh jiġu msejħa ġellieda għall-paċi jew terroristi, skont ma' min iżżomm!

Jekk ir-raġunijiet imsemmija minn dawk li jfittxu s-seċessjoni jitqisux veri jew ġustifikati minn osservaturi imparzjali, meqjusa skont il-liġijiet tal-art jew il-liġi internazzjonali, u fl-aħħar, aċċettati formalment minn pajjiżi u/jew istituzzjonijiet oħra, huma kwistjonijiet oħra, importanti ħafna u kontroversjali, u mhumiex l-iskop ta' dan l-artiklu.

Eżempji ta' daż-żminijiet li jiġuni f'rasi huma l-parti tal-Lvant tal-Ukraina li l-iktar li jitkellmu bir-Russu, u r-rewwixta tal-Misilmin Sunni fl-Iraq u s-Sirja.

Il-poplu Malti aktarx ikun familjari ma' sitwazzjonijiet simili wkoll fil-pajjiżi tal-madwar, li jista' jinvolvi ammont ta' vjolenza. Fir-Renju Unit, hemm ir-referendum ippjanat fuq l-indipendenza Skoċċiża, u għal perjodu twil kien hemm l-attentat vjolenti biex titqaċċat l-Irlanda ta' Fuq. L-Italja għandha l-Lega Nord li għal xi żmien kienet tinsisti bil-miftuħ għal Padanja indipendenti għalkemm illum titkellem fuq mudell federali, waqt li Spanja għandha l-komunitajiet Bask u Katalan.

Il-Maltin fl-Amerika ta' Fuq aktarx jafu fuq il-firda bejn il-Franċiżi ta' Quebec u l-Anglofili tal-bqija tal-Kanada, bl-Istati Uniti li għandha storja b'diversi kapitli.

Hawn fl-Awstralja, aħna nidhru l-bogħod minn dawn il-kunsiderazzjonijiet. Però kien hemm attentati fil-passat minn kolonizzaturi sabiex jinqasmu l-istati magħrufa, bħal fiċ-ċentru¹ u t-tramuntana ta' Queensland fis-seklu dsatax, fejn l-ideja tal-aħħar għadha ddur², u f'Western Australia fis-seklu għoxrin. Fit-tramuntana ta' Perth, illum hemm ukoll dak li sejjaħ lilu nnifsu il-Prinċipat ta' Hutt River³, li mhux irrikonoxxut mill-Awstralja⁴ jew pajjiżi oħra.

Ċert li l-Maltin kollha huma familjari mal-indipendenza ta' pajjiżna mir-Rejnu Unit li waslet fl-1964 bir-Reġina miżmuma bħala l-kap ta' stat, sakemm Malta ġiet iddikjarata Repubblika fl-1974. Dan ġara wara l-Maltin fi żminijiet differenti tħallew b'mod limitat biex jiggvernaw lilhom infushom.

Li forsi mhux daqstant magħruf hu li Għawdex ukoll kellu perjodu qasir ta' sentejn fis-seklu tmintax li matulu kien stat indipendenti minn Malta. Dan kien ir-riżultat tar-ribelljoni tal-Maltin kontra l-Franċiżi li damet sentejn, bil-Franċiżi f'Għawdex iċedu mallewwel fl-1798 u jċedu f'Malta fl-1800. Matul dawn is-sentejn, għalkemm ir-Re Ferdinandu ta' Napli afferma d-dritt fuq Għawdex, fil-fatt din kienet amministrata mill-Arċipriet Francesco Saverio Cassar. Il-parti ta' Malta miżmuma mir-ribelli kienet amministrata minn Assemblea Nazzjonali eletta u wara minn Kungress Nazzjonali. Meta l-Franċiżi f'Malta ċedew, dan il-perjodu qasir ta' indipendenza fil-fatt ta' Għawdex spiċċa u l-Brittanniċi ħadu ż-żewġ gżejjer taħt il-protezzjoni tagħhom^{5 6}.

Fi żminijietna, kull tant żmien tinstema l-għajta għall-indipendenza ta' Għawdex, imma ma jidhirx li hemm appoġġ mifrux għal dan.

Mill-2004, Malta saret tagħmel parti integrali mill-UE, unjoni politika w ekonomika li taġixxi f'xi aspetti bħala federazzjoni ta' stati. Is-sovranità ta' Malta għalhekk hija limitata, bħalma hi dik tal-istati membri l-oħra, b'xi poteri mogħtija kompletament lill-UE (p.e. il-politika monetarja għaż-żona tal-Ewro, il-politika tal-kompetizzjoni), poteri oħra huma maqsuma ma' stati oħra (p.e. l-agrikultura, l-ambjent) u oħrajn miżmuma (p.e. it-turiżmu, l-edukazzjoni).

Naħseb li ta' min wieħed jieħu ż-żmien biex jipprova jifhem il-kwistjonijiet involuti ta' sovranità li jitqajmu f'reġjuni ta' madwar id-dinja. Bħal ma' kien il-każ ta' ħutna Maltin ta' nofs seklu ilu, popli oħra madwar id-dinja jistgħu jkollhom fehma qawwija dwar li jkollhom rajhom f'idejhom.

1The Brisbane Courier, 25/6/1892, p. 5. Available at http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/3543991#pstart103942, retrieved 17/6/2014

2http://www.news.com.au/national/bob-katter-wants-nth-queensland-to-be-its-own-state/story-fncynjr2-1226417426809, retrieved 17/6/2014

3http://www.hutt-river-province.com/, retrieved on 17/6/2014

4http://australia.gov.au/faq/hutt-river-province, retrieved on 17/6/2014

5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gozo_%281798%E2%80%931800%29, retrieved 17/6/2014

6The Maltese Cross - A Strategic History of Malta, Dennis Castillo, 2006, p. 120