The Knightly Tribune

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The Knightly Tribune is the official newspaper of the Sovereign Order of Malta and is headquartered in Valletta, Malta.
This paper is funded entirely by the Order but has its autonomy protected by law, and is considered part of the free press.​

 

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LAW AND ORDER RETURNS TO MALTA
The Order is now expected to be a permanent part of Malta's new government.

Fort Saint Angelo, Birgu, Malta.


January 1st, 1995 brought with it not only a New Year, but a new government for Malta. Details of what happened that night and the weeks sense have only begun to trickle out from the Office of The Grand Master and other high officials in the Order; however, The Knightly Tribune now has enough details to explain exactly what happened.

The final hours of 1994 and the first hours of 1995 were no cause for celebration in Malta. The late-President of Malta, Archibald Fenech, was in an important meeting with Archbishop Micallef in a state-owned building in Valletta. What exactly they were discussing is not certain, however, the Archbishop was quoted as saying that it had to do with "current events" and "preventing violence" from occurring in Valletta. Unlike many other high-ranking politicians and officials in the Maltese government since 1990, President Fenech had remained free of controversy or charges of corruption, and was seen as one of the very few "noble" leaders remaining in the Republic. This was reflected in recent opinion polls that showed that while the Labor Government and Nationalist opposition had crumbling approval ratings, President Fenech himself was polling in the at +80% throughout the islands. Former Labor MPs confirmed that their party was afraid that Fenech would resign as President and run as leader of the Nationalist Party. His plans may never be known, because on the night of December 31st, he and the Archbishop were kidnapped at gunpoint from a radical anti-government group which wished to overthrow the government.

The recent resignation of the Prime Minister meant that then Labor Foreign Minister was technically the head of the government. Unfortunately, this radical group had managed to raid at least two military barracks, and got their hands upon high-grade military weapons including both rifles and explosives. This made the threat that much more difficult to handle, especially after different cells of this anti-government group started attacking police stations, military facilities, and government strongholds around Valletta all around the same time of night. This was all going on while peaceful anti-government protests were turning into riots, further stretching the capacity of the police or military to effectively return order to Valletta, or rescue the President and Archbishop. A statement was released by the terrorist group, who demanded the resignation of the current ministers of the Labor Government, and the insertion of some of their leaders into key positions of the government, including Prime Minister. The government did not appease them.

Meanwhile in Rome, the Lieutenant Grand Master, Arthur Sinclair, and the other Grand Officers of the Sovereign Order of Malta were in a meeting in the Magistral Palace. The Palace is one of two buildings in Rome (the other being the Magistral Villa) which were granted extraterritorial status by Italy to the Order. They served as the operational headquarters of the Order since the early 1800s when Malta fell to Napoleon, and had been under the authority of the Order since the 1600s. A debate was underway between the Grand Officers. Some of them supported the idea of deploying a small special forces team that was, at the time, secretly operated by the Order. The team, named "The Sovereign Guard" would be deployed to Malta to rescue the Archbishop and President Fenech.

The Lieutenant Grand Master, who is rumored to have been a member of the Sovereign Guard at some time, was one of the Grand Officers who wished to deploy the guard. The debate concluded with the Lieutenant Grand Master being overruled, in part due to his role being only an interim position until a new Grand Master was elected. Sir Sinclair refused to take no for an answer, and took a car to Vatican City so that he could ask Pope John Paul II to overrule the Grand Officers. During that five minute drive to the Vatican, it was announced that President Fenech had been executed by his captors. It's not verified what the Grand Master and the Pope discussed, but the operation did go on afterwards.

Sir Sinclair, as well as other members of the Sovereign Guard, deployed via a C-130 owned by the Order from Rome. They performed a nighttime "HALO" jump over the city of Valletta, and landed somewhere near Fort Saint Elmo. The Order announced through the Office of The Grand Master that the operation did result in the death of a number of terrorists, and the injury of one of the Sovereign Guards. However, the Archbishop was rescued. The team then retreated to Fort Saint Angelo, which the Order has extraterritorial sovereignty over a small portion of. After successfully defending the fort, reinforcements arrived from the Order. The mission was a success.

That morning, news outlets throughout Malta were reporting of the firefight in Valletta, on top of the riots and protests that had taken place that night. Shortly after the hardening of Fort Saint Angelo, the Order confirmed to the Vatican that the Archbishop had been rescued. It was only a matter of hours before the free press caught wind of these details, including that the Lieutenant Grand Master was among the soldiers that took part in the rescue mission. When asked to surrender Fort Saint Angelo to local police, Sir Sinclair refused. An official statement from the Order to the Republic, and the anti-government rebels, said:

"As Knights of the Roman Catholic Church, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta had no choice but to act to save the life of Archbishop Micallef. We regret that we didn't arrive in time to also rescue President Fenech, which was originally also part of our mission. The Order respects the territorial sovereignty of the Republic, however we will not surrender Fort Saint Angelo until hostilities between the Republic and the anti-government groups have ceased. We would be willing to act as an arbitrator, and we offer any humanitarian aid needed by the people of Malta. We await your reply."

The Order's attempt to unite Malta worked, but not in the way they expected. The Mayor of Valletta and other local officials visited Fort Saint Angelo to meet with the Lieutenant Grand Master, as did the Labor Foreign Minister, members of the Nationalist Party, and representatives from the rebel groups. After only two days, calls were being made from citizens and members of the government for Sir Sinclair to run for Prime Minister of Malta. While that didn't materialize, support for the Order of Malta continued to grow as more details continued to come out about the operation, and greater attention was put on the Order's recent history as a successful humanitarian organization. The Lieutenant Grand Master himself, who was a native of Malta, was becoming a star.

After a number of other meetings with the government, it was publicly declared that the Order would become part of a transitional government, along with parts of the Republic, which was responsible for writing a new constitution and creating a new system of government for Malta. Since then, the Order has been running commercials on pubic television in Malta, and on the radio, that it will "restore order" and "bring a stable economy" to Malta.

The Lieutenant Grand Master is now the de facto head of state of Malta. Soon, there will be an internal election within the Order to determine who the permanent Grand Master will be. For now, the government and the Order remain in a state of transition.

 

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WE HAVE A GOVERNMENT
Grand Master announces new government in address.

Meeting place of the House of Representatives in the Grand Master's Palace.


Lieutenant Grand Master Arthur Sinclair announced the results of the Constitutional Assembly that had been assembled at St. John's Cavalier, the former embassy of the Order to the Republic of Malta.

In the televised speech, the Lieutenant Grand Master explained that the Sovereign Order of Malta would become the official government of Malta, with some changes and additions, the largest of which is the creation of a semi-autonomous Parliament. This will be bicameral and will include a lower chamber, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Council of Knights. The House of Representatives will comprised of elected representatives, and will be responsible for selecting the leader of most of the new "priories" which are equivalent to ministries. The House will also elect a Prime Minister, who will be the nation's Head of Government. All binding legislation will originate from the House and, once passed, will move to the Council of Knights. The Council will be comprised of senior knights from the Order, and will be chosen by the Grand Master, Grand Officers, and other bodies within the Order itself. The Chamber exists to revise or reject law based on its legal constitutionality. After successfully passing through both chambers of Parliament, a piece of legislation would go to the Grand Master.

The Grand Master of the Order is now the Head of State of the nation. Legislation passed through Parliament will go through to him to be signed or vetoed. As Head of State, the Grand Master is now the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Unlike many other European nations, however, the Head of State is not a ceremonial leader of the armed forces. The Order has been designated to be entirely responsible for matters of foreign affairs, the defense of Malta, and international aid. The Lieutenant Grand Master also reiterated that there will soon be an election within the Order itself to select a permanent Grand Master, which may or may not be him.

The Lieutenant Grand Master also announced that those responsible for assassinating the late President Fenech have been detained by the Order, and will be given a fair trial once the judicial system is functioning. Soon there will be elections for the House of Representatives, as well. The lack of polling means that it's virtually unknown what party will be powerful enough to form a government. The Office of The Grand Master released a statement afterwards which said that more details about the new government will be released in the coming days.