“What keeps the politician going was a little voice within himself which when the entire din has been silenced and the dust has settled timidly whispers: No one could have done better in the circumstances.”

These are the words of former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff in his regular column in The Malta Independent in the early years of Standard Publications, prior to the launch of the daily newspaper. Back then, from June 1992 to 1993 Dom Mintoff was a regular contributor in the Sunday paper. At times, his writings were aloof from the local political scenario and skimmed on the international situation. It was a period in which the world was still coming to terms with the new order following the end of the Cold War.

At the time, Mintoff was still a Labour MP. While he tried to keep his distance so as not to influence the party’s policy, he was still widely regarded as its spiritual leader whose image had overshadowed his successor, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici. No wonder that in the eyes of many the latter was his political acolyte till the very last days of his life.

Looking back at his articles with hindsight it is evident that from day one he was no admirer of Alfred Sant and not surprisingly of Eddie Fenech Adami. Dr Sant was still finding his feet at the helm of the Labour Party which some months before had suffered one of the most humiliating defeats in its history at the hands of the PN.

At the time, Mintoff decided to comment on the state of his party referring to his role in appointing his successor back in 1984. “The very prosaic truth about the part I played in the second contest for Labour’s crown of thorns (1992) is that I tried very hard to avoid making the same mistake twice. This time my hands are cleaner then Pilate’s’”. Furthermore, he took a dig at Dr Sant stating: “Knowingly anticipating being despised as an old fossil of a bygone age I do not believe waiting for a new, crystal headquarters to be built or a television station to be properly manned and opened or blowing kisses to our opponents across the floor of an empty House is helping our Maltese people to find some faith – old or new”.

Subsequent events proved that this was no isolated comment but the beginning of a souring relationship which climaxed in 1998 when Mintoff scuppered Sant’s administration.

As to his long-time rival on the opposite side of the House, Mintoff never minced his words either. In those days, Malta’s application to join the European Community as it was known at the time was at a very early stage, but at the same time was being kept on the back burner by Brussels. The former Prime Minister, who for several months challenged Eddie Fenech Adami for a television debate through his weekly column, regularly lashed out at him accusing Dr Fenech Adami of being weak with Brussels. He once compared him to former Prime Minister Nerik Mizzi saying that “If only ‘our’ Eddie had one drop of Nerik’s blood in his veins”.

Up to the very last days of his political career, Dom Mintoff was a rather media shy person shrouded in mystery, and preferred to convey his message from the streets rather than using his pen. Thus, his brief contributions in our sister paper, which can be considered a rarity, are highly valuable especially from the historical point of view. Following the announcement of his death, the local media was inundated with remarks about his legacy in local and international politics. Yet the final judgement of his political achievements or shortcomings could have taken a different twist had Dom Mintoff been more keen to share his experiences. His autobiography would surely have been invaluable.

Note: Feature articles about

Dom Mintoff’s musings in TMI will be published throughout this and next week