Last Saturday former Prime Minister and former Malta Labour Party leader Dom Mintoff was laid to rest. This did not happen before the state and the people gave the Perit a very well deserved thanks and emotional good bye.
It was a state funeral given by the government of Malta to honour and recognise the work and service that Duminku Mintoff did in his long service to his country. But likewise the people wanted also to give their heartfelt thanks to the man who created many opportunities for them and who did not only preach or speak but more importantly put into practice what he talked about. He achieved for us all.
In the last days preceding the state funeral of this great man, who I had the privilege of meeting, talking to and also be a Member of Parliament with, what struck me most were not the words of his followers but those of his political enemies. Finally they all acknowledged the greatness of this man of vision and the love that he had for his country and its people, especially those who are most in need. It is not my intention to delve into the details of what they said, neither is it my intention to make a list of his work and achievements for our country and more importantly for all the people.
I want this opinion piece to be a small tribute to this great man who gave his life and service to Malta, a small independent country, something that Mintoff fought for and achieved fully through his hard work. I spent many minutes following interviews and comments on the TV about this great Prime Minister. During these minutes I also had the time to try and better understand the work of this man. One cannot judge Mintoff with today’s mentality although we must state that today what we have is thanks to his vision and his work. Without his work and vision what we achieved in the years after his resignation from Prime Minister would not have been possible.
The history of Malta and also that of the Labour Party for more than 50 years is linked with this great man. He made history and he was part of it. But my main thoughts lifted to the fact that he had a number of missions to do. The first mission was to get this small island with the mentality of a colony to rise up and become a nation. A mission that was no joke considering the fact that at that time very few went to school and as such they lacked basic education. Most were workers with little income and their priorities were achieving the means to feed their families. Apart from that, that Mintoff was alone in this battle and in this vision. Others who had the intellectual and also the abilities to join Mintoff to achieve his vision for Malta to become a nation had other interests. Some wanted to conserve the status quo in order for them to maintain their power while others indulged in whether to speak English or Italian.
The other main mission that Mintoff had, was to lift the workers from their misery and give them and their families rights and benefits. No joke either, considering the economic state of the island and also the lack of work and opportunities. This was done while others continued to put obstacles, calling him all sorts of names and insisting that he was against the Church.
In these last few days I said to myself ‘How can Dom Mintoff be against the Church when he used to preach the teachings of Christ and, more importantly, he put in practice the same teachings of Our Lord? Also, how can he go against his own family when it is very well known that he had a sister that was a nun and a brother who is a priest?’ So Mintoff was never against the teachings of the Church but maybe certain elements in the Curia were against him and maybe only time will confirm why all this happened.
Like him I believe that Jesus was the first socialist and that His programme should be our political programme, which is what Dom Mintoff did in the past. The readings during the state funeral paid tribute to this man too and symbolised his work as a servant of the people. Also, the words by Archbishop Paul Cremona confirmed that what Dom Mintoff did in his political life was based on the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Church.
Finally the people turned into thousands to salute this great political figure. Duminku Mintoff will still be loved by all and surely will not be forgotten. Proof of this will be all the benefits and other work that he did, which gave thousands of workers the opportunity to earn a decent living. Grazzi Perit.
Carmelo Abela is a Labour Party MP and Shadow Minister for Social Policy
[email protected]