Foreign Minister, President of the UN General Assembly and President of Malta. He has toured the world and is generally regarded as the best criminal trial lawyer Malta has ever produced. Michael Carabott caught up with the ‘profs’ at his home in Blata l-Bajda where he spoke to him at length about his autobiography, The Politics of Persuasion.

Professor Guido de Marco greeted me warmly at his family home in Blata l-Bajda. He chatted with me and photographer Ben Borg Cardona, reminiscing about mutual acquaintances and our job in the media world. He looks well, given his condition (which he elaborated on later) and is still as bright as a button. His body may have aged, but his emotions are still as passionate as they always were and his mind is still as sharp as a knife. I asked him how he was feeling. “Well, I have to go for dialysis because my kidneys are not functioning well, but you just get on with it. You keep going, and you keep active. There is life in me yet,” he said with a wry smile.

I asked Prof. de Marco what drove him to write the book, The Politics of Persuasion, and he answered: “I wanted it to be a register of our history.” Diving immediately into the book, I asked him what he thought of criticism that he did not paint an objective picture and that he may have been one-sided. “Do you think it was justified criticism? I wrote that book as objectively as I could, I wanted it to be an account of what happened in our recent history,” he said. “If anything, I have been criticised by members of the PN for being too objective.”

That question out of the way, I quizzed him about his tenure as President of the Republic of Malta. I told him that many people believed that he had tried to give a defining role to our traditional sedentary post of head of state.

Prof. de Marco answered: “I tried my level best to keep the Presidency above politics and I believe I achieved that goal during a time when the people of Malta were so divided about the European Union membership issue.”

The President Emeritus said that he tried so hard to always promote Malta’s name abroad and to attract investment to this country, Lufthansa Teknik being one of the success stories in this regard. “I always had help from our ambassadors and another person I feel I must mention is former Air Malta Chairman Louis Grech (now Labour MEP) because he worked so hard,” he said.

I spoke to him about the role he and his wife (Violet) played in promoting charity and culture in Malta. “Violet was amazing, especially when it came to the Christmas Strina campaign. During my time as President and chairman of the Malta Community Chest Fund, I realised how much some people need charity. Especially the terminally ill, who spend thousands of euros on just injections to stay alive,” said the professor, lapsing into one of his darker moods as he reflected on the cases that he remembered.

He then spoke of the vandal attack on the Mnajdra megalithic temple. “It was the first time a President had taken part in a protest with the people. The President must feel the pulse of the people and besides, I was hurting too. The President needs to have moral authority,” he said.

He said the President of Malta presides over the state. “He might not be the executive head, but he, or she for that matter, must remain close to the people. I did that and I will continue to do so, even though I am now a private citizen,” he said.

I pointed out that it seemed he had done the same during his term as President of the United Nations. “That post was one of a figurehead, yet you marched in and tackled your term pro-actively,” I remarked. “Yes, and I believe I succeeded in making it a Presidency with a purpose. I will always recall when I went to Gaza to visit the refugees. It was novel and it was also audacious. Then US ambassador, Tom Pickering, told me that the US department of State was opposed to the visit. I told him that it was therefore even more important that I went. At the time the Palestinians were supporting Saddam Hussein. It was a dangerous situation. Those people suffer the humiliation of being refugees in their own country and by visiting, we showed them that the UN had a face and was trying to do something about it,” he said.

He said that he was vindicated on his return as the same ambassador conceded that the trip was a success. Prof. de Marco has long been identified with the plight of the Palestinian people and I asked him whether this was because he had seen similar schisms in Malta during the turbulent 1970s and 1980s. “Let me start from here. My life started in a colony, so I take such matters to heart. I know what divisions mean. There is no peace without freedom and there is no freedom without justice. And as the late Pope John Paul II said, there can be no justice without forgiveness on both sides,” he said.

I asked whether he believed that a two-state Israeli-Palestinian solution would ever be found. “It will have to be found. It is inevitable,” he said.

He said that when taking everything into account, the life we experience in Malta today is a great achievement. “It is a great achievement by the people of Malta. I also pay tribute to Malta Labour Party leader Alfred Sant for removing the violent elements within the party. He deserves that praise. At the same time I praise the current administration for taking Malta ahead in terms of belongingness, tolerance, improved economy and foreign investment,” he said.

He said that independence in Malta was a renaissance. “It saw a rise in our embassies abroad, pride in presenting a Maltese passport, a proliferation in arts, poetry, culture and simply being Maltese,” he said.

At this point, I saw Guido the family man as his mobile rang. He winked at me and said, “Do you mind, it’s my wife?” I told him to go ahead and take the call, which he answered with a hearty: “Hello pupa!” They spoke about setting up a lunchtime appointment and said he would try and make it pending his morning’s appointments. And trust me, his home is a busy place. He then spoke to one of his grandchildren on the phone, “Hello my boy!” said the proud grandfather.

Once he hung up, we then moved into the sphere of political unrest in Malta and I asked how close he felt the country had come to spiralling into civil war. “The 1970s and 1980s were dark, divided times with Maltese turning on their brethren. Something had to give. The situation was tense. We were sick of being beaten up and people on the Labour side were also sick of beating us up,” he said. It was very close, he said, his eyes reddening and almost spilling tears. “We had to make sure democracy survived. But watching party clubs being ransacked and the law courts being set fire to while police and army officers sang Labour hymns was truly soul destroying,” he said.

“I carry some bad memories. The frame-up, by the police, of Pietru Pawl Busuttil, the murder of Karin Grech, the slaying of Raymond Caruana. They were bad times. Very bad times, can you get much worse than that?” he asked.

I asked Prof. de Marco what message he could pass on to the younger generations who did not go through those times. Without batting an eye, he anticipated my question and said: “Treasure democracy. Treasure freedom and treasure Malta. See to it that we never get to that stage again.”

In his book, Prof. de Marco points out that he used to meet regularly with the then Prime Minister Dom Mintoff to try and broker a solution when the PN MPs refused to take their seats in parliament after the 1981 election. It was the culmination of years of political unrest. I asked him how far his building of bridges went to finding a solution to the situation that almost ripped the country in two. “If we, both of us, did not build those bridges, we would not have the Malta we have today. Mintoff was a threat to democracy, but it was his intervention which was crucial in finding a solution to the impasse, as was the input by Edgar Mizzi,” he said, the grudging respect showing on his face as he spoke about the former Premier.

I asked if they were still in touch. “I don’t speak to Dom as much as I used to, but we still try to speak on the phone once a month or so. We also meet occasionally and I must say one thing about the man. I genuinely believe that he believed he was doing the right thing for Malta at the time,” he said.

I remarked to Prof. de Marco that he truly seemed to love his family. “The secret is understanding, tolerating and never getting into a dead end. I love my family very much and the feeling is reciprocal. You must understand your family and when you do, you realise that there is nothing more precious. I am a truly fortunate person,” he said. He added that he was thankful to be born to very humble parents in Valletta. “It allowed me to be who I am today and to appreciate things for what they are,” he said.

I asked what the future held for the professor. “I still lecture about criminal law and I love it. Law is my passion, as is imparting knowledge to younger generations about law. I think I have had the highest number of jury trial defences in Malta. I still have two books left in me and one is a commentary on criminal law while the other will be essays on diplomacy,” he said.

He also feels very proud to see that his son has ventured into the political arena. “Mario reflects much of how I feel. But he is an independent person. He is very balanced and he is trying to contribute by being in parliament. He is also a competent lawyer,” he said.

In closure, the President Emeritus signed a copy of his book for me in his traditional green ink. Before we parted company, he pulled me aside and gave me a very candid piece of advice. “Even in your profession… stay close to the people and feel their pulse. The people will teach you more than you can ever learn in a university. You will learn something new, from someone new, every day,” he said. With that, the President rose to his feet, shook our hands warmly and escorted us to the door and with that, an hour and a half passed.

Professor de Marco is a truly remarkable man. Not everyone might see eye to eye with him and not everyone might take to him as readily as others do. But he really is a people person and he does try to be friendly and courteous to all. Love or hate his rhetoric, one thing is certain, he has a lot of wisdom, experience and knowledge to impart. He is a true statesman, but I’m sure he would have equally been comfortable in the starring role of a West End or Broadway musical – such is the charisma of the man.

I certainly hope the The Politics of Persuasion was not the last we ever hear of President Emeritus Guido de Marco.