Franco Debono has urged politicians to stop addressing the population as “Maltin u Għawdxin” (Maltese and Goztians) and simply refer to everyone as Maltese.

“Politicians in Malta have been accustomed to or have become burdened with the custom of addressing the population as ‘Maltin u Għawdxin’ instead u just ‘Maltin’, which obviously includes Gozitans,” Debono told Lovin Malta.

He asked the public to imagine the Prime Ministers of Greece and Italy doing the same for the residents of every inhabited Greek and Italian island, rather than simply referring to everyone as Greek or Italian.

“Whilst one must respect the exquisite and delicious characteristics of the sister island and its wonderful people, this impression of some small republic within the Republic is nothing else than another sign amongst many of parochialism,” Debono said.

“I urge politicians to do their utmost to protect the unique characteristics of this jewel of an island which are loved and admired by locals and tourists from all over the world rather than get lost in semantic niceties.”

Do you agree with Debono’s stance?