The Labour Party on Thursday saluted former prime minister and party leader Dom Mintoff on the anniversary of his birth on August 6, 1916.

Prime Minister Robert Abela and the party administration laid flowers at the foot of a monument to the late politician at Cospicua, his birthplace.

The PL recalled Mintoff as a giant of Maltese politics who would continue to be remembered for his social reforms, the investment he attracted and reforms which included the closure of the British military base in 1979. 

Mintoff became prominent in 1949 when he ousted then party leader Paul Boffa after a disagreement on the way how to deal with the British colonial government in the aftermath of the war.

He was prime minister between 1955-58 and again from 1971 to 1984 and brought down Alfred Sant's Labour government in 1998, ostensibly over disagreement on the Cottonera waterfront project.

Mintoff passed away on August 20, 2012. Another monument to him was set up at Castille square, opposite the Office of the Prime Minister.  

Robert Abela pays tribute to Dom Mintoff in Cospicua (Photo issued by the PL).Robert Abela pays tribute to Dom Mintoff in Cospicua (Photo issued by the PL).

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.