GonziPN really knows how to take care of its friends. Among his foremost priorities upon reopening Parliament, the prime minister has tabled amendments to the highly consequential Gieh ir-Repubblika Act, to be able to dish out more medals to people for their courage and service to the Republic.
The amendments will mean that the National Order of Merit may include up to 15 Companions as opposed to the previous 12: and an extra five individuals may be appointed officers of the order, alongside the existing 20.
As for ordinary members of the Order, from 100 these will go up to 125, as will the Midalja ghall-Qadi tar-Repubblika.
The Gonzi administration also wants to add a medal to those it deems to have given a “distinguished service” in the police, prison, the army, warden services and all those falling under “disciplined forces”.
The awards are granted every year on Republic Day and the list of distinguished people receiving them is now bound to increase thanks to the Nationalist administration’s generosity.
The only person to refuse the honour so far has been Dom Mintoff – the fiery former prime minister, who brought down the Labour government under Sant’s rule in 1998.
He had said in court that he was not accepting the conferment of the island’s foremost national honour until he received compensation for damages he claimed he suffered when the Water Services Corporation stopped his water supply due to outstanding bills.
Whoever is nominated for the honour will be flanking more than 150 Maltese citizens belonging to the National Order of Merit– the absolute majority having been awarded by the Nationalist government in the last 18 years - including entrepreneur Bertu Mizzi, Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil, former Sunday Times editor Lawrence Grech and former Tourism Minister Michael Refalo.
Not uncannily, the dearth of Republic Day honours conferred in the days of Dom Mintoff and Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici seems to testify to the scarcity of ‘outstanding’ individuals back in the day.
Since 1987, the Nationalist’s grand list for the Gieh ir-Repubblika totalled over 45 honourable members. In Labour’s 16 years of Mintoffian self-sufficiency, only four of the prestigious Gieh were conferred to those who demonstrated “exceptional merit in the service of Malta or of humanity”. Three of these were North Korea’s ‘dear leader’ Kim Il Sung, Libya’s own bedouin revolutionary Colonel Gaddafi, and Li Xiannan, President of the People’s Republic of China between 1983 and 1988 as well as the father-in-law of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin.
If you have anyone in mind that might deserve it, just drop the name at the office of the prime minister. Who knows, you might soon be the friend of a proud owner of a Repubblika medal. As Gonzi likes to say: together, everything is possible.