Social media was flooded with posts of condolences and messages of remembrance following the tragic passing of PN MP Robert Arrigo earlier this week.

A prominent businessman and a pioneer in the travel and tourism industry, Arrigo served first as the mayor of Sliema and then as a member of parliament from 2003 until his death last Tuesday at the age of 67. He was diagnosed with cancer during summer this year, but continued to serve as a member of parliament until his last day. Many have described Arrigo as a gentleman.

His death saw both sides of Parliament come together and pay tribute to the man, with Prime Minister Robert Abela, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech, as well as Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia saluting his memory during a Parliamentary sitting.

Politicians who were close to Arrigo described him as having always been ready to help others, loyal, and a good man.

Arrigo had served as Deputy Leader of the Nationalist Party between the years of 2017 and 2022, originally under the leadership of PN MP Adrian Delia, who was party leader between 2017 and 2020.

Speaking with The Malta Independent on Sunday, Delia described Arrigo as a good friend, and will remember him fondly.

"One of the most defining things that I cannot ever stop mentioning is that he was always on the lookout to do good,” Delia said of Arrigo. 

“People would go to him because they knew that he would help, and it had nothing to do with districts, votes or politics – anyone (would go), from all over Malta, from both political camps.”

"The good that he did, and the generous heart that he had is something that will live on."

He recounts a particular memory he has of Arrigo.

Delia had gone to a house in Marsa, in which he said there were three or four generations living in two rooms. “I called Robert and asked him if he was still at Dar Centrali. He said yes. I asked if he could wait for me and he did. I explained that this family needed a fridge. They had an old fridge that was empty, didn't work and was literally being used as a cupboard. Robert told me 'let me tell you what we'll do. First we'll get them the fridge, but we'll get them to agree - as one of the youngsters in this family was keen to undertake a diploma course - (that) every time we see that she keeps studying to achieve this diploma, tell her that we'll fill up this fridge for her'. That is what we did and we kept in contact."

"He wanted to leave an impact, not through a material donation, but by making a difference in their lives going forward." 

That is how Robert used to think and act, Delia said.

Arrigo was also an organiser and charismatic benefactor, Delia said. “His next target was December. He wanted to commemorate 50 years plus in the tourism industry, in which he was one of the key players.” Arrigo, Delia said, had organised a business lunch where businessmen were going to pay, so that he would then donate everything to Puttinu Cares. “Within a couple of hours of telling me about it... he messaged back to say it was fully booked. But then he was going to organise another one.”

One of the last things the two were talking about was this, he said. He added that he and his friends were "messaging him to tell him that we had 90 people booked for him, and he was overjoyed because, in his mind, the more bookings he received, the more he was going to donate."

A key characteristic of Robert Arrigo was loyalty, Delia said.  “His word was his bond. He wasn't afraid to declare his loyalty, even if he knew that sometimes that had consequences."

They met, in the political sphere, on opposing sides, Delia said. "But from the day after (the PN internal elections in 2017), he came fully on board, and really worked every single day. We basically lived together at Dar Centrali for two years." 

Asked what Arrigo's loss means for the Nationalist Party, and also for politics in general, Delia referred to the tribute to Arrigo in Parliament earlier this week.

He said that the Opposition Leader paid tribute to Arrigo, but so did the prime minister.

"He (Arrigo) was, and I also quote the Speaker of the House, literally able to reach across the political divide. I think that is an amazing thing in a country that is so polarised... that you gain and win everyone’s respect." He said that this is a testament to Arrigo's kindness.

Arrigo’s generosity and loyalty can also be seen in the context of his family, Delia said. "His children and grandchildren were his passion. Whichever problem we had, whatever issue or struggle, for him, particularly on the weekends going back home and enjoying time with his grandchildren was his little piece of paradise." 

He had some final words for Arrigo. "Thank you, on my behalf and on behalf of my family who he helped through his loyalty and moral support. I want to say thank you on behalf of every single person he helped, for every single person that called, that messaged, that are out there and just want to say 'you made a difference in my life.' Thank you Robert. You were awesome, you are awesome, we will always remember you."

Clyde Puli is another person who worked closely with Arrigo and also described him as a friend. He served as PN Secretary General while Arrigo was Deputy Leader.

"I've known Robert for a long time. I had a 30-year career in politics, and while he was older than I, we basically had the same career length.”

“I got to know him because of politics. I became his friend … and then we became close friends along the way. We entered the party, give or take together, in the 90s through local councils. We were mayors in our localities. We were elected to Parliament together, in the same year. We nearly finished in politics at the same time for different reasons. I took my decision not to contest the last election, and he because of what happened."

“Over the years our relationship grew. The fact that we worked together so much over the past five years during a stormy and tense period, I think the bond between us grew."

Asked how he will remember Arrigo, Puli said he was ambitious, competitive, determined and a good, kind person. "He was always ready to help. He was also always ready for a good competition,” he said.

They would on occasion be on opposite sides of the same argument, with Arrigo being more laid back wanting to move things along, and he was more detailed focused, Puli said.

"Robert, being who he was, if he decided to try and convince you, he would see how to do so irrelevant of how long it would take.”

"For example, when summer is approaching he used to enjoy going on his boat. 'We are a bit tense and need to relax a bit, let's go for a day on the boat', he would say. You'd go onto the boat, eat, drink, talk, and he would again bring up that argument until he manages to convince you that whatever it was should happen," Puli said with a smile, reminiscing about his memories. But then he also had the humility to absorb the difficulties you would be pointing out, Puli added. “That was Robert." 

Asked about Arrigo's death, he said it was a big shock. "When they told me, I was on the way to pick up my son." That morning, he said, he had seen a Facebook post about Frederick Azzopardi who had died two years earlier. Both were good people, he said.

"When they told me Robert died, I was shocked. While I knew that he was unwell, that the situation was very serious, I didn't expect it to be a question of days or weeks, I expected that through care he would go on for a few years."

"I mentioned the boat earlier, up until the start of summer, he was still sending me messages and calling me, telling me 'Clyde, Covid passed, we haven't gone on the boat, let's organise it and enjoy it (...) then on the date we chose, the weather wasn't good."

"After that bad weather passed, another storm came, that of his health. I kept hoping that it would pass, but unfortunately it didn't."

He said that Arrigo was a person who would find immense satisfaction in helping others. Puli said that whenever one would ask something of Arrigo, telling him about a family who needed help, Arrigo would say leave it up to him. "They don't have somewhere to sleep or food to eat, didn't have medicine, somehow he would find a solution."

MPs on the other side of Parliament also highlight Arrigo's good qualities.

PL MP Edward Zammit Lewis served as tourism minister between the years 2014 and 2017. For a time during that period, Robert Arrigo was his political counterpart, the PN's shadow minister for tourism.

Asked what Arrigo was like as a competitor, Zammit Lewis described him as "constructive."

"He had an obligation to criticise me in the work I was doing, but he was an expert in the sector. So he wasn't just a politician shadowing the particular subject, but a person who had at least 50 years of experience in the sector. He saw the tourism sector evolve."

"I used to value what he said." Zammit Lewis said that Arrigo would give suggestions through the way he used to criticise.

He also described Arrigo as a fair person. "He would criticise and do his job as a politician, but he had nothing personal against anyone. I believe that is an important value, quality (...) at the end of the day we are all Maltese. He would see you outside and stop to talk to you, I remember meeting him outside of Malta, in Rome. He was an affable person, who respected others." He said that politicians today should learn from this, that aside from the criticism and the political arena, "we respect each other."

Turning to Arrigo's illness, Zammit Lewis said he admired his courage. "I admired how he faced the situation,” he said, explaining that Arrigo continued working and planning for the future.

"Everyone, at some time or another, faces difficulties, and you must face those difficulties with courage. Robert Arrigo did that, and should be a role model as to how we could learn to face these situations."

Arrigo contributed a lot to the PN, he said. "The value we need to learn from him as today's politicians, is the value of loyalty... that sometimes your party would be on top, at other times not, but you remain loyal to it, continue working to fix things.” He said that the former PN MP helped the PN a lot, for the party to stay on its feet financially.

"Loyalty doesn't mean not criticising your party, it doesn't mean keeping your mouth closed and Arrigo did not keep silent, but he was always loyal to the principles and the party that he believed in so much."

He described Arrigo's best qualities as being those of respect, loyalty, and also helping others. "He used politics not only as a tool for the country to move forward in general, but would also help - and we kept hearing about this after his passing - people. That is an important social and civic value, that we Maltese should think not only about moving forward as individuals, but also think of others."