Former President Guido de Marco encouraged Ugo Mifsud Bonnici to contest the 1977 leadership election in order to split Eddie Fenech Adami’s votes, robbing him of a majority, because of his own ambitions of becoming party leader.
Former President Ugo Mifsud Bonnici recounts his experiences of the 1977 party election to elect a successor to George Borg Olivier in his upcoming autobiography – Konvinzjoni u Esperjenza – which will be published today.
He says Guido de Marco used to patronise Eddie Fenech Adami during earlier years. “Guido wanted to become party leader – this is no secret. In the early years, when Eddie was not yet an elected MP, he patronised him because he did not regard him as a threat to his leadership ambitions. In fact, he saw me as more of a threat than Eddie, even if I had no intention of becoming party leader.”
When Eddie Fenech Adami joined the party he was considered as a great asset. “He was prepared, capable and courageous. He was not afraid to speak and he had the loyalty of the man in the street. He was a newcomer at the time but we know that he had only failed to get elected in the 1962 election because of the PN ‘stallions’ contesting the same district.”
Eddie Fenech Adami was co-opted into Parliament in 1969, filling in the seat vacated by PN MP Gorg Caruana. “The PN Executive met at the Palace in Valletta to decide who should be co-opted. I, Censu Tabone and a number of others backed Eddie. George Borg Olivier, because of a number of considerations, preferred Joe Cachia. Guido also supported Eddie becoming an MP because he believed that the party needed him.” The former President recounted the night in detail, remembering how Dr Fenech Adami was sick with a fever but attended the meeting nonetheless.
“Guido kept patronising Eddie until both of them started in the leadership race.” He speaks fondly about a particular incident, before Eddie Fenech Adami became an MP, when the three of them were attending a conference in Venice. “Guido turned to Eddie and said: ‘You have many gifts. You only lack one: Ambition.”
Despite backing Fenech Adami’s co-option, Guido de Marco regarded him as a strong adversary in the 1977 election. “When they came to the election for Leader successor, Guido wanted me to contest to split Eddie’s votes. He was not pleased at all when I decided to stay out of it.”
Dr Mifsud Bonnici remembers how Guido de Marco remained close to George Borg Olivier, with the aim of succeeding him at the party’s helm, even after the PM’s popularity dwindled. “Guido also wanted to remain friends with George Borg Olivier, to succeed him, even when his health deteriorated and many in the party started seeing him as a stubborn leader that would not budge.There were times when Borg Olivier had to ask fellow MPs to read out his budget reply because of his health. People in the party were saying that, while Borg Olivier was a great leader who had fought for and obtained independence, it was time for him to move on and allow fresh blood in the party leadership. Guido opposed these tendencies.”