The real Dom Mintoff

It is a pity that for reasons of partisan political advantage, many pro-Nationalist Party writers try to depict former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff as a politician who was totally negative and undemocratic in most of what he did. This is unfortunate because although it is true that Mintoff had his defects, as all great leaders do, his merits far outweigh his negative points.

A young person who does not remember Dom Mintoff in power recently asked me what was so special about this former Labour Leader and Prime Minister, given that he is regarded by many foreigners as Malta’s greatest politician. My reply was that Mintoff had charisma and was an excellent orator. Furthermore, he never considered himself inferior to foreigners because he was Maltese. Mintoff always led from the front, i.e. he was always at the head of his supporters, even in the most dangerous situations such as public protests in volatile times.

Those of us who remember Dom Mintoff, cannot fail to recollect the man’s strong personality and especially the way he appealed to the Maltese people. Mintoff had that unique quality of born leaders : the ability to immediately capture the undivided attention of an audience when one starts speaking and also to get the audience to identify itself with the speaker’s stand on an issue and make it its own. Being an excellent orator, Mintoff was able to get people vociferously shouting approval just a few minutes after starting a speech.

Many Maltese also identified themselves with the Labour Leader because he protected the dignity of Malta and the Maltese. For him the Maltese were second to none and his battle cry “Malta l-Ewwel u Qabel Kollox” (“Malta First and Foremost”) became legendary. One must remember that in Colonial times and for several years after Independence, there were still many Maltese who looked up to foreigners and considered themselves inferior because of the small size of their own country. Mintoff put a stop to this way of thinking and inculcated in the Maltese people a belief in themselves and their ability to equal anything foreigners could achieve and even to surpass them in their achievements.

In his dealings with foreign statesmen, Dom Mintoff acted as their equal and made it clear that he would brook no nonsense from them such as treating him as an inferior because he came from a small country, as the British Lord Carrington found out to his surprise! At Helsinki, in 1975, Mintoff took on the whole of Europe’s cream of the diplomatic services and got his own way. No wonder that the Maltese people adored him! After centuries of humiliation by the foreigners who controlled Malta, here was a Maltese Prime Minister who upheld Malta’s name and dignity and outwitted the best foreign statesmen.

On the domestic front, Mintoff was always at the head of the Labourites in the most dangerous situations. One can mention the 20th September, 1964 incident. On that day, the Labourites entered Valletta where the Independence celebrations were being held. Mintoff, as usual, was at the head of his supporters. The police, including the cavalry, shamefully attacked the Labourites and the Labour Opposition Leader even fell and was dragged along in the dust during one of the police attacks. As a leader who shared the same dangers to which his supporters were exposed, Mintoff earned the highest respect.

Mintoff brought progress to Malta. He created the Welfare State, he improved education and eradicated ignorance and superstition, His social measures gave Maltese workers the dignity denied to them for centuries. When Mintoff stepped down, he left Malta in a prosperous state, with a thriving economy and sound public finances.

It’s also true that Dom Mintoff had his defects. He was intolerant of petty and unjustified opposition and was sometimes crude and rough in his approach to solving problems and would ride roughshod over other people’s feelings. In 1998, he was totally wrong in the way he treated Alfred Sant. Still, surely these defects will not blind anyone to the fact that Dom Mintoff remains Malta’s greatest-ever Prime Minister.