ABSTRACT
The Nationalist Party (PN) formed the government from 1962 to 1971, from 1987 to 1996 and again from 1998 to the present (2009). The Malta Labour Party (MLP) governed from 1971 to 1987 and briefly from 1996 to 1998. The wealthy Knights of St John fortified the settlements around the Grand Harbour and built Valletta as their capital city on the barren peninsula dividing the Grand Harbour from Marsamxett. Residence in the village centre conferred prestige, for built-up landscape was associated with ‘civilization’. Bourgeois inhabitants of the towns looked down upon villagers, who in turn looked down on their farming neighbours. Britain began the rundown of its Maltese military establishment in the late 1950s. The government also moved to upgrade the tourist product by prioritizing the reputedly more affluent and environment friendly ‘quality tourists’ over the traditional sun, sand and sea tourists that hitherto had been the industiy’s mainstay.
