The Mintoff I knew…

Charles Mizzi

“Speaking from a journalist’s point of view, Dom Mintoff wasn’t the most friendly and cordial person. We used to get a tip off that he would going away for some meeting and the press would congregate at Luqa. His first reaction would be: ‘how do you know I’m going abroad?’ or ‘no comment’. Often he simply ignored you. We would be really irked to see that, during high profile delegations in England he would not shy away from speaking to the press. And that used to kill us.

“He didn’t trust journalists… and he was a person people loved to hate.

“He had a very strict personality. You’d be speaking to him and, if you’d contradict him, he wouldn’t think twice to start shouting at you and calling you ‘injorant’, ‘basla’ or ‘gidra’.

“On the other hand, I remember on several occasions it would be just me and him, and maybe another person, and he would be speaking to you like a father speaks to his son. He used to explain things in detail and was always bringing in nature, such as ‘busy as a bee’ or ‘hardworking as an ant’.

“But he used to hate the cameras. He loathed speaking to a camera. In fact, he would have five or six persons sitting in front of him, hidden from the camera, so he would be speaking to them.

“I had a good personal relationship with him. A few months ago, just before he fell seriously ill, he called me to go and visit him at his home. The voice was a bit strange and I thought it was a joke. I couldn’t believe it was Mintoff. Then he mentioned something about Japanese who wanted to write a book about his life and I immediately believed it was him.

“I went to his home and was immediately taken aback by the newspapers, letters and magazines spread all over the sofa. He immediately noticed my surprise and said, ‘You know… I live on my own. I don’t have time to file everything so I just put them there. Let’s go into the kitchen.’

“And I sat on a stool and we spent three hours talking about a million things. He also revealed the reasons behind choosing Agatha Barbara as President and why Anthony Mamo was made the first President of Malta.

He started speaking about how in reality, when he was a kid he wasn’t interested in politics… but he loved Bormla with all his heart. He was more pushed than anything else to enter politics because people were impressed by how well he knew how to speak and attract an audience’s attention.

“And Mintoff, during that three-hour conversation, also admitted he was sorry that he resigned as Prime Minister in 1984. He said, ‘I was surrounded with so many people who have now disappeared’. At the end, he had very few people around him.

“But like always, he had more to his mind that just a talk with an old friend. He wanted to open again The Samaritan organisation.

“Before I left I hugged him and, underneath that green jacket he was always wearing, I felt how much he had shrunk.”

Felix Agius

Veteran journalist and former Kulhadd editor

“Dom Mintoff never ordered me around on what to or not to write. I remember working at the l-orizzont when it was still a merger between the General Workers’ Union and the Malta Labour Party. I always remembered him leaving journalists at liberty on what to write… maybe because he knew I worked with the l-orizzont and, being at the time of the merger, he knew we supported him and the workers’ movement.

“On the other hand, Mintoff wasn’t one to address the media every week. He only spoke on few occasions outside parliament. If he had anything important to say he would do it in parliament.

“I will never forget the one time we were at Castille. We were listening to a press conference being held by Eddie FenechAdami who said that ‘for Mintoff and the MLP it was important that their supporters wore the PL badge’.

“I remember Mintoff taking a look at all of us and, noticing that none of us were wearing a badge, jokingly said that none of us were Labour supporters because we weren’t wearing any.”

Frans Ghirxi

Veteran journalist and former l-orizzont editor

“Dom Mintoff was a man with a vision for his country. He imprinted in the Maltese the mentality that we could work on our own without the need to depend on foreigners. Mintoff defended poor without taking anything away from the rich. He gave women equally rights, established a minimum wage, and created the welfare state.

“He managed to exploit a rift within the Nationalist Party to obtain Malta’s Republic status.

“I remember a Commonwealth meeting in 1977 in London. I was assigned to report Mintoff’s visit, when I was informed that the Medical Association of Malta were to hold a press conference. We informed Mintoff about what was going to happen and he promptly summoned me to his hotel. He literally interrogated me to see what I knew about the whole issue with the doctors and then went on to ask me whether there will be other journalists and to record the whole press conference.

“However I was the only journalist to attend and Lino German, at the time secretary of the association, ended up addressing only me. I reported back to Mintoff with the whole conference recorded. He listened to it attentively and then went on to comment ‘what a waste of money [qas haq il-flus li hlew!]’.”

Eddie FenechAdami

Former Prime Minister and President of Malta

“Overall, Dom Mintoff’s place in history is a positive one, albeit critics may find his methods debatable. He was a man of strong character, who knew what he wanted andfought to bring about great changes in the country, even if the methods he used were debatable.

“Overall, I believe that Dom Mintoff’s place in history is a positive one. He wanted the best for Malta. He sought to lift the lower classes and brought about social changes, but again as I said one still questions his methods.

“I remember meeting Mintoff after that perverse result [of the 1981 General Elections], and my party’s decision to boycott parliament. On one particular occasion, I went to meet Mintoff accompanied by my secretary John Camilleri, and Mintoff insisted that he sees me alone.

“On that day, Mintoff had lost his cool, slamming his fist on the table spilling a large cup of tea all over his papers. I asked is this an earthquake? And he replied that all was ok and calmed down.”

George Abela

President of Malta

“Mintoff was a politician and statesman who left a long-lasting effect on Malta’s local and foreign politics. He dedicated his whole life to the country. He was one of the founders of Malta’s welfare state and toiled to improve the standard of living of everyone.

“He held the ideal to see Malta move forward through economic and social development in the context of a peaceful, secure and prosperous Mediterranean region.”

Joseph Muscat

Labour Party Leader

“We have all been orphaned. Dom Mintoff was the architect of a free Malta, a giant in Malta’s political history.

“In recent weeks it was evident that Mintoff’s health was precarious, but the former Labour leader showed incredible strength and recovered. We hoped the same would happen today.

“We say so as Labourites and Maltese. We are aware of Mintoff’s controversial reputation but those who held him in high esteem and those who criticised him must recognise that Malta would not be what it is today without this man.

“Against all odds, Mintoff put this rock on the world map and the world started taking Malta seriously. Though I only met Mintoff for the first time 20 years ago, I found his vision and energy were impressive.

“While working on my thesis, I spoke at length with Mintoff and found the former prime minister’s insight, love for his country and his unprecedented love for the workers to be unmatched.

“Mintoff did not want a monument but he built a living monument for himself through social benefits such as pensions, children’s allowance, the free medical service, free tuition, stipends, the minimum wage, the right to sick leave, equal rights for women, the right to vote at 18, the separation of Church and State and the decriminialisation of homosexuality.

“Though there had been times when there were difficulties between the Labour Party and Mintoff in recent years, I am pleased that over the past four years that chapter was closed.

“I would like to express my gratitude towards Mintoff for everything he has done for the country. Today, we cry for him – without any shame.”

Philip Sciberras

Retired judge and Mintoff’s former lawyer

“We weren’t simply a lawyer and a client. We were friends. We had a good relationship because he always trusted me and did what I told him. But I never hid anything from him, because the worst mistake you could make with Mintoff was to hide something from him or not to do precisely what he said.

“People always associate Mintoff with the welfare state, but seem to ignore that he pulled us out of ignorance. We were like birds in a cage and he freed us and thought us how to fend for ourselves.

“There’s no one on earth who is perfect… and just like everyone else Dom Mintoff had his good and his bad. But when you weigh them, the good outweighs the harm. When history will be truly written, Mintoff will be forgiven for many things. Because as much as they accused him of being anti-democratic, Mintoff was a defender of true democracy.”

Labour MP KarmenuVella

Served as Industry Minister in Dom Mintoff’s Cabinet

“Mintoff was a visionary; he was a thinker and a doer. His major achievement was changing the mentality of the Maltese. He was very persuasive and very determined, yethis character was contradictory. Unlike what many think, he valued opinions, even though he used to give off the impression he wasn’t listening. Because he mulled everything.

“His defect was that he used to get lost in details. His best trait was his negotiating abilities.

“Mintoff was charismatic and what his speeches he used to captivate audiences for hours. People thought he had a difficult character. The problem was that many thought he wanted ‘yes men’ around him. The truth was the complete opposite.”

Helena Dalli

Labour MP and close personal friend

“I worked closely with Mintoff when he was no longer party leader and prime minister. He was much calmer then, a fount of knowledge and experience from which I could learn.

“‘Don’t just complain about things’, he would say. ‘Do something to improve them’.

“Mintoff was a catalyst of change.  He changed things and conflict was inevitable because there were those who were resisting the change, there were those who felt things were moving too fast… But he took challenges head on, that was Mintoff.

“1996-98 was obviously a black spot.  Alfred Sant definitely had the best of intentions.  He wanted to change the tribal way we had hitherto done politics.  He wanted to continue on the modernization process which Mintoff had embarked upon decades earlier.  But something went amiss there, and Alfred Sant did not deserve what he got.  

“It’s a good thing though that Joseph Muscat sought to heal the rift.

“How would I describe Dom in one word? Go-getter.”

Alfred Sant

Former Labour Prime Minister

“Dom Mintoff was a monumental figure in the last century of Maltese politics. While he was leading the country, he introduced the welfare state, to the benefit of Malteseworkers. He fought hard and with great courage for the true independence of our country. And today we must remember him for the good he did and for his efforts as a leader, which had a substantial impact on the political and social history of our country.

“At the time, Mintoff’s efforts were scoffed at by people who nowadays employ some of the very same values in their own political life – surely, an indictment of their conviction.

“Today, there would be no better way to pay tribute to Mintoff than to say that his values  – chief of which being social solidarity and true freedom – remain the foundation of our country’s policies.

“And it is only the Labour Party that can guarantee the values of social solidarity and national freedom.

“My deepest condolences go to Mintoff’s family for their loss.”

Tonio Borg

Minister of Foreign Affairs

“I was personally involved in a number of cases which the Nationalist Party had instituted against Mintoff as Prime Minister, but my opinion about Mintoff is that he is owed respect for his dominant role in Maltese politics spanning some 51 years.

“He was a charismatic, controversial and contradictory leader, given the change from calls for integration with Britain to establishing a Republic and insisting on closing all British bases on the island.

“I remember the long discussions I would have with Mintoff in parliament, when he would ask for me. He would go on forever, and one time it took me well over 20 minutes to descend the steps leading out of parliament.

“Just like government and the Nationalist Party saluted Mintoff, I agree that although he was a tough political rival, he is owed respect for his long service to the nation.”

Michael Falzon

Former Nationalist MP

“Dom Mintoff will always be an enigmatic figure: for some he was Malta’s saviour, who freed our country from foreign domination and from mendacity; for others he was the devil incarnate bent on tyrannically submitting Malta to his dictatorial will.

“He was so controversial and divisive that whatever one says about him will be promptly rebutted by someone else.

“My personal opinion about him changed over the years after I got to know his surprisingly charming personality from a closer distance and when he might have already started to mellow by age.

“His achievements were great but so were also the problems with his faults! Yet this country has been fashioned by his influence to a very large extent, whatever anybody says about him.”

Marie-Louise ColeiroPreca

Labour MP

“I was not born into a politically active or fervently Labour Party supporting family.

“Dom Mintoff was the politician who translated the values I gained from my father’s home into a political ideology.

“Mintoff used to excite me with his powerful words, with the vision he had and his tremendous intellect which he used to redirect the shortcomings into a challenge and benefit.

“I always admired Mintoff for his courage since he feared no one in reforming Malta, politically, socially and economically.

“Mintoff struggled and worked very hard to give dignity and a decent livelihood to the poor and vulnerable of Malta. He never forgot anyone, even at a time when Malta was financially dry.

“The concept of a free and serene Mediterranean with a process of continuous Euro-Mediterranean dialogue was a concept Mintoff presented for the first time to Europe and the world. At that time, there were those who mocked him, and today it is considered a sacred concept for European and conservative Maltese persons.

“The creation of a compulsory education system, the introduction of vocational education, the creation of a free health care system for all, the provision of comfortable houses and apartments, were all the result of Mintoff’s belief that workers should equally benefit from effective opportunities as those who did not need assistance.

“Despite the controversy that arises when discussing the establishment of the Republic of Malta, had it not been for Mintoff’s intellect at the time in those particular circumstances, we would probably still have a British Governor today.

“Equally controversial is the issue of the election result of 1981. It is easy to criticise Mintoff for what happened 32 years ago, but those who lived at that time were aware that it was a difficult time for Mintoff.

“Mintoff did not want to govern for the long term but only until he managed to come to an agreement with the Nationalist Party to change the Constitution. It was unfortunate that the PN took the road of confrontation rather than the path of discussion.

“Mintoff fought heavily in those years gain constitutional change, and had these changes not taken place, the 1981 result would repeat itself subsequent elections.

“This was a great experience which showed me that contrary to what was said by Mintoff’s political opponents, he was not only a politician who believed in democracy but one who worked for it.”