Dom Mintoff
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 the University of Malta and
Hertford College, Oxford on a
Rhodes Scholarship.
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 by local
Catholic authorities between 1958 and 1969. 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 Labour Party newspapers.
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. 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. 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.
* 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 education, 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
Alfred Sant refused them without explanation.4) Police blocks to prevent children from entering the schools
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.
