Former Speaker of the House Daniel Micallef, who presided over one of the most turbulent moments in Malta's parliamentary history, has passed away. He was 94.
A well-known and respected doctor not just in his native Rabat, but all over the country, Micallef was seen as a moderate voice in the tough Dom Mintoff years when the political situation in Malta was tense.
He was first elected to parliament with the Christian Workers’ Party in 1962 but resigned in 1966 and did not contest the election held that year.
He told Times of Malta in an interview in 2010 that “Archbishop Michael Gonzi sent Fr Feliċjan Bilocca to speak to me in 1961 to join the Partit tal-Ħaddiema Nsara (set up by former Labour activist Toni Pellegrini). They believed Mintoff was a communist who wanted to destroy the Church.”
Eventually, Micallef fell out with Pellegrini because he felt he could no longer trust him and resigned in 1966. He had utmost respect for former Nationalist Prime Minister George Borg Olivier but felt hurt by the way he believed the British were treating the Maltese.
He recontested and was elected on the Labour Party ticket in 1971, 1976, 1981 and 1987.
His years as Speaker - between 1982 and 1986, saw him dealing with Malta’s biggest constitutional crisis, sparked by the Nationalists’ boycott of the opening of parliament in February 1982 in protest at the way the Socialists had doctored the electoral districts to secure victory.
After failing to convince the Nationalists to change their minds, Micallef unseated all 31 PN MPs three months later. Even though the Nationalists at the time disagreed with his interpretation of the constitution, Micallef insisted he was obliged by law to make the historic statement in April 1982 that the seats belonging to the PN were vacant. The Nationalists reassumed their seats in parliament 11 months later.
Micallef was appointed Minister of Education and the Environment in 1986 and was Labour’s spokesman on education and the environment when the PL lost the 1987 election.
His political life also saw him serving as acting president in April 1982 and later, in January 1997, he was appointed Malta’s ambassador to the Holy See and to the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, posts he held until 1999.
But Micallef was also well known in the medical field and was an elected member of the Royal College of General Practitioners in London. His interest in alternative medicine become his daily mantra in recent years. Micallef had also set up the Institute of Design for Environmental Action.
In the 2010 Times of Malta interview, he had described himself as a “cosmopolitan” because despite his close links with the Labour Party, he refused to pigeonhole himself into any particular political category.
Micallef was married to Pauline Farrugia and they had seven children - Marika, Denise, Isabelle, Bernardette, Mark, Paul, and Daniel.
President Emeritus Marie Louise Coleiro Preca paid tribute on Facebook describing Micallef as a "Christian Socialist", an exemplary family man, honest, kind and a person of integrity.
In a statement, the Labour Party said Micallef will be remembered for his strong socialist principles and for always being close to the people.
Condolences were also offered by the current Speaker.