Sometimes I think of Daphne and Mintoff; they had many differences but also similarities. Both had their good and less good qualities and they resorted to tactics that were elitist and crass.

Mintoff originally had defying power and later real power, sometimes verging on repressive power, while Daphne had defying power later endorsed by one big party. 

Mintoff was a proud figure and for some people he was an arrogant person. He was hardly the type to consult with common people, yet he had a strong sense of social justice.

On the other hand Daphne was from a different school emanating from the so-called elitist class. She had a certain intellectual arrogance and pride and I have no doubt that she used to look down on the working class. She couldn’t understand their plight. Yet she believed in social mobility and education perhaps more than Mintoff with his elitist approach to curb the so-called budding intellectuals at our university.

Both of them loved the Maltese and Malta in their own way. Both were soloists, not choir singers. They were the most popular political diva and political tenor in Malta. Both of them used to stretch the boundaries and restrictions of their cultural and political space and time. Both of them managed to become a legend and both are considered by some as demi-gods.

Perhaps Daphne’s experiences in her youth under the repressive approach adopted by Mintoff in the later years of his administration and the political turmoil of those years moulded her character and attitude towards Mintoff and what he used to represent.

Both characters were very brave and tenacious in their own right. Surely a book could be written on these two public figures, on their huge differences and yet their strange things in common. Ultimately they both believed in their ways and both became part of the collective memory of the Maltese people.