Dom Mintoff
Dom Mintoff | |
|---|---|
| File:Malta-mintoff.jpg | |
| Prime Minister of Malta | |
| In office 21 June, 1971 – 21 December, 1984 | |
| Preceded by | Giorgio Borg Olivier |
| Succeeded by | Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 6, 1918 Cospicua |
| Political party | Malta Labour Party |
| Spouse | Moira Mintoff nee Bentinck |
Dominic Mintoff (born 6 August 1916 in Cospicua) was Prime Minister of Malta under British colonial rule, between 1955 and 1958, and then after independence, serving between 1971 and 1984. He is an architect and civil engineer, educated at Hertford College, Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship.
Political Life
Mintoff founded the Malta Labour Party (MLP) in 1949 after a cabinet split with veteran Labour Party leader Dr Paul Boffa. He served as Leader of the Opposition between 1950 and 1955 when the MLP won the elections with Mintoff as Prime Minister. The main electoral pledge of this government was integration with Great Britain. This, however, failed and Mintoff resigned calling for independence.
Mintoff served again as Leader of the Opposition between 1962 and 1971. In 1971 his party won the elections and Mintoff, as Prime Minister, oversaw nationalisation, expansion of the welfare state, constitutional changes (Malta became a republic in 1974) and the closure of the British military base on the islands in 1979. More controversially, Mintoff strengthened ties with the Qaddafi regime in neighbouring Libya, with communist countries such as China, and (in a secret treaty) with North Korea.
Mintoff's relations with the local Catholic Church authorities were marked by confrontation. The Malta Labour Party Executive was interdicted (i.e. excommunicated) by local Catholic authorities. Socialist gatherings were synonymous with church bells being rung frenetically and members of Catholic organisations using whistles, so as to disturb the speeches. On occasions stones were thrown at the Socialist crowd and Police used their force to calm down things, even if they directed their attacks against the Socialists rather than members of religious organisations who were creating the disturbances. The Bishops of Malta declared that it was a mortal sin to vote Labour and to read or even look at Leftist newspapers. There were various cases where Labourites were not allowed to marry in the Catholic traditional rite (at a time when only marriages done by this rite were considered as valid, even for civil/legal purposes), while Labour voters could not confess or participate in the Eucharist.
An attempt on the life of a delegation sent by the Socialist International organisation, made up of a Swede, an Israeli and a West German, was made at the town of Zurrieq. The signal for those who attempted this murder was the switching off twice of the lights of the Church of the same town. Numerous Socialist activists were buried in the "Miżbla" (unconsecrated land), which was a common grave, and which was reserved for anyone not accepted by the Catholic Church (even if the government owned this particular cemetery). A truce between the Church and the Malta Labour Party was reached in 1969, with the Church accepting the principle of a secular State and division between Church and State. This brought some opposition in the Malta Labour Party and led to the creation of two tiny parties, the Liberty Party and the Maltese Communist Party. Both of these parties opposed this truce. His last years in office were marked by disagreements over the church's role in education, particularly schools. He stepped down as Prime Minister in 1984, but remained a backbench MP.
Mintoff’s years in the international scene were marked with ambiguity and vagueness for his unclear stances in foreign policy, a tactic which he used to keep as distant as possible from both superpowers while being granted financial and technical help for Malta. The Socialist administration tried to establish good relations with countries forming part of the two blocks which dominated international society in that era, but avoided having deals with the two superpowers. Mintoff was again in the news in 1998 when he voted against the Government in a vote about a yacht marina in the Three-Cities, which the Prime Minister considered as a vote of confidence, an act which brought about the premature downfall of the first Labour Government after 10 years of Nationalist administration.
Mintoff did not contest the 1998 and 2003 elections. Although he has campaigned against Malta's membership of the European Union, it could be argued that his actions of 1998 in abstaining in a confidence vote asked by the Prime Minister himself eventually led to Malta's accession to the European Union. It can also be said that Mintoff always had his finger in the pie in all constitutional and historical events in the last 50 years. The climax in Mintoff's career was reached when on 31 March 1979 the last British/NATO (of which Malta was not granted membership, or even the right to be an observer, even if Malta was used as the headquarters of NATO in the turbulent Mediterranean Region) troops left the Republic of Malta. To this day, Freedom Day, is still celebrated as one of Malta's five National Days.
Controversial decisions
- Mintoff's government removed several religious-public holidays from the calendar, while making Saturdays a free-day for workers.
- Mintoff's government passed a law forbidding the use of the words "Nazzjon", "Nation" and "Malta" for commercial purposes.
- Mintoff had a conflict with the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary (Irish Blue Sisters), who were occupying a hospital owned by the State of Malta and refused to accept Maltese patients on payment by the Government, even though they accepted British soldiers. Eventually the nuns were evicted on the grounds that they did not accept the conditions governing the licencing of hospitals proposed by Mintoff.
- A famous chapter in the history of the University of Malta saw the then recently-elected Dom Mintoff halt an ongoing medical course in its track and cancel the first- and second-year students' university enrollment. The students were not financially compensated, their work at the university went unrecognised, and they were not offered advanced placement into any other courses. Mintoff's Government took this decision as most medicine students were leaving Malta after obtaining their B.A.
- In an effort to gain complete control of child ecucation, Mintoff tried to close all private schools, most of which were run by the Christian orders.
His methods included: 1) Removal of all financial aid to these schools. 2) Making it illegal for the schools to charge fees. 3) Discriminating against graduates from these schools so that they could not enter Malta University. The infamous "20 Point" system was devised to seriously set back these graduates. Notwithstanding the unfavourable regulations, some of these students still made the grade for acceptance in Malta University, but the selection board chaired by Dr Alfred Sant refused them without explanation. 4) Police blocks to prevent children from entering the schools
Slogans
The following are slogans which the Labour Party/ National Freedom Movement/ Worker's Movement* had during Mintoff's leadership:
Integration or Self-Determination (The Labour Party wanted Malta either to be Integrated with the UK or otherwise given Independence).
Jew f'Kollox Bħall-Ingliżi Jew mhux ma' l-Ingliżi (Equal to the British or not with the British).
British Pay up or go Home.
Malta l-Ewwel u Qabel Kollox (Malta first and foremost).
Malta marida mediċina Mintoff (Malta is sick, medicine "Mintoff").
Malta Maltija (Towards a Maltese Malta, i.e. Independent).
Lejn Malta Soċjalista (Towards a Socialist Malta).
Il-Quddiem fis-Sliem (making progress through Peace).
Inharsu l-Ħelsien f'Idejn il-Ħaddiem (Guarding Freedom obtained by the Worker).
- Il-Moviment tal-Haddiema (Worker's Movement) was the names used to gather Leftist Organisations in Malta, Particularly the Malta Labour Party and the General Worker's Union (which was vital in the re-establishing and the electoral victories of the Labour Party in the 1940s). The present Socialist Leader, Dr. Alfred Sant, lately has referred to these Organisations as "the Leftist Movement".
It can be said that the "Mintoffian era", at least in the Labour Party, came to an end in 1992 when Dr. Alfred Sant was elected as Party Leader. Sant filled the seat which became vacant after Dr. Karmenu Mifsud Bonnicci's resignation. Arguably, Mifsud Bonnicci was Mintoff's protégé, even if the latter criticised the former. During a speech in Parliament, Mintoff declared that his biggest error in his political career was that of proposing Mifsud Bonnicci as his successor. It can also be said that Mintoff's legacy still influences the Labour Party. This is most evident in the nationalist outlook of the Party. Ironically, the Labour Party has a more nationalist outlook than the Nationalist Party itself.