Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1054415
NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 21 NOVEMBER 2018 2 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Debono Grech said that Mo- ran had also been his personal doctor. "He was generous with his time and money, known for performing operations for free," he said. "He obtained more than 5,000 votes in every election and did not have to go knocking on doors because people knew him well. He was a true worker, going out of his way to help others." The current Health Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne said that Moran had been his family's doctor as well. "Since I was very young, he was almost like a member of our family." Fearne explained how Moran's contribution mostly had to do with primary healthcare — the former health minister had in- troduced the concept of poly- clinics all around the country. "Investments and concepts in his time were never replicated," Fearne said. "He was a true pio- neer of the Welfare State." Fearne said that his friendship with Moran lasted until the late doctor's death and that he had looked up to him while he was contesting the 2013 election. "I contested in the fourth dis- trict as he once had. He was the person I spoke to, he was my mentor before I ran for the elec- tion." "Malta lost a person who was able to see the good in every- one," Fearne said. "Red or blue, it didn't matter, he helped eve- ryone and he helped his patients even when they couldn't afford his services." Former Labour deputy leader and foreign minister George Vella said he owed a lot to Mo- ran, who – when he became a minister in 1972 – had invited Vella to take over his practice. "As a young doctor, that was very helpful to me," he said. "Ev- er since then, we shared many patients over the years." Vella too described Moran as a gentleman and a kind person, who never cared about people's political affiliations. Vella recalled how, during the doctors' strike of 1977, he had been one of the doctors who went in to work. "I remember Dr Moran, then minister, worked extremely hard to settle the issue and to reach an agreement that would not hurt the public," he said. "And he and I were in the su- perintendent's office when we got word of the bomb that killed Karin Grech. We were all left speechless and incredulous at what had happened." Vella said that what made Mo- ran special was his undying com- mitment to the oath he took and how he applied it in every single thing he did. He also recalled how Moran al- ways enjoyed the support of his wife Maggie and how he used to turn to her for advice and solace. Former PN secretary general and minister Louis Galea told MaltaToday that in politics, he learned that Moran always tried to practise what he believed. "But let us not forget he was a member of the Labour Party at a time when the party was very militant and when the calm, measured approach of people like Moran had no place in poli- tics," he said. Galea recalled how hard Mo- ran worked as minister of health in the late 70s and how worried he was about how certain poli- cies were being implemented. "As a man, you could not meet a bigger gentleman, but under the Labour Party then, Moran had to fall in line with the party's hard line if he wanted to retain his post," Galea said. "And un- fortunately, Moran found he could not always be the gentle- man he would have liked to be." 'A quiet saint' Vincent Moran remembered by colleagues and friends CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "We had cases, for example, where the person filling in the ballot wrote a four in one candi- date's box but would have writ- ten it in a way that the number slightly crossed over into the box below it," one party agent who spoke to MaltaToday said. They added that the intention of such a vote would have been clear and non-controversial un- der the previous system. Similar- ly, problems were also encoun- tered as a result of marks or folds on the ballot paper. Louis Gatt, head of the Labour Party's electoral office, was satis- fied with the electronic system but noted the "high percentage" of votes flagged as dubious. However, he partially attribut- ed this to the manner by which the mock votes were filled in by a small number of people. "A small number of people were tasked to mark ballot pa- pers to replicate an election. However, it is tedious to mark one ballot paper after anoth- er and very probable that the handwriting started to deterio- rate. They might have exagger- ated in some aspects to fully test the system but it is my expecta- tion that there will be much less dubious votes in reality," Gatt said when contacted by Malta- Today. But Gatt was positive about the system, which promises to deliv- er a quicker electoral result. He expects that all six MEPs elected next year will be known by Sun- day evening, rather than having to wait until Wednesday morn- ing. He said the political parties had been working along with the Electoral Commission for such a system since 2015 by evaluating specifications and requirements. "I am satisfied with the system but like any new project it has its teething problems and we expect these to be solved," Gatt said. On his part, Nationalist Party Secretary General Clyde Puli said that Saturday's mocks had exposed a few "hiccups and teething problems" but was opti- mistic that these obstacles could be addressed. "We are taking the old system we had and applying technology to it," he said, adding that such a transition was bound to bring with it some challenges. He said that the National- ist Party had a team of people observing the process and was reporting back and relaying any concerns to the Electoral Com- mission. New system 'has its teething problems and we expect these to be solved'