Parliament on Monday paid tribute to former Speaker Daniel Micallef, who passed away earlier this month, with Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne and PN leader Bernard Grech speaking of him as a man of character and principle.

“Daniel Micallef was a human being with a character of conviction,” Fearne told Parliament on Monday.

Fearne explained how back in 1962 when Micallef was a politician it was considered a ‘sin’ by the Maltese church to vote for the Labour Party which was being led by Dom Mintoff. 

Micallef formed part of the Christian Workers Party 1962, with whom he was elected, however he believed “so much in what is right and was not comfortable with his party that he not only resigned from the party itself but also gave up his seat as MP.”

Fearne went on saying that Micallef then formed part of the Labour Party.

He said that as a young doctor he remembers Micallef as a former patient at St Luke’s Hospital.  Micallef had injured himself after deciding to jump into the sea but miscalculating the depth of the water he was jumping into.

During the weeks that he was in hospital, Fearne said that Micallef used to take him aside and tell him not to “listen to anything I learnt from the books when it comes to remedies, as he believed in home remedies.”

Fearne said that one of the things Micallef had shared with him was the use of honey as a home remedy for scars rather than creams, something which he said he had held when he ultimately specialised as a doctor treating children.

“He also loved his family, and had seven children all of whom are successful, and who all give their contribution to today’s society thanks to the values they got from their family,” he said.

PN leader Bernard Grech meanwhile made reference to Micallef’s first ever speech in Parliament.

Grech said that based on his 1962 speech, it was clear that Micallef took becoming an independent state as a personal issue as it also helped him develop his character.

He said that it was clear that Micallef himself insisted on living a righteous life as he believes in being just and having a fair political career.

“Daniel wanted to be of service to the vulnerable too,” he said.

Grech also made reference to the turbulent times in which Micallef was Speaker of the House.

He observed how Micallef spoke about how difficult it was at times to speak in Parliament because he was intimidated by certain individuals. However, he had also said that he wanted to see more enthusiasm in the institution itself and that he was willing to fight for the respect it deserved.

“Let’s continue to build on what he left,” Grech said.

Former Labour Speaker and MP Daniel Micallef passed away at the age of 94 on the 9 of December.  

Well-respected for being a doctor in his hometown of Rabat, he was also known all around Malta for being a moderate voice during the rough Dom Mintoff days.

He represented Malta at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 1985 to 1986 while also serving as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1982 to 1986.

Micallef had also resigned from his position in the Labour Party in 1966 but was later re-elected in 1971, 1976, 1981 and 1987.

Micallef served as Labour's spokesperson on education and the environment after the PL lost the 1987 election. He was named Minister of Education and the Environment in 1986.

In his political career, he also served as Malta's ambassador to the Holy See and to the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, positions he maintained until 1999. He also served as interim president in April 1982.

During his tenure as Speaker, between 1982 and 1986, he had to cope with Malta's largest constitutional crisis, which had been caused by the Nationalists' boycott of the inauguration of parliament in February 1982 in opposition to what they described as the PL’s manipulation of the electoral map to win the previous general election.

The PN had obtained more votes but less parliamentary seats in the 1981 general election, meaning that the Labour Party remained in government.

Micallef removed all 31 PN MPs three months later after failing to persuade the Nationalists to reconsider their opinions. Micallef maintained he was required by law to declare in April 1982 that the seats held by the PN were vacant, even though the Nationalists at the time disagreed with his interpretation of the constitution. Eleven months later, the Nationalists took back their parliamentary seats.