Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/416739
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2014 News 7 leadership race. Probably one of the reasons he stood out from the 1980s crop of Ministers was the contrast between his intellectual demeanour and the intellectual poverty around him. Thwarted ambitions Lino Spiteri was close to being elected as he had more votes than Alfred Sant in the first round of the vote. But Spiteri ended up losing in the second round. The leadership contests proved highly controversial. On the very day of the leadership contest, a letter containing allegations against Spiteri sent to the MLP's vigilance board was leaked to the Nationalist media. Be- fore the vote was taken, party propa- gandist Manuel Cuschieri raised this issue at the MLP conference. Subsequently the PL's vigilance board was asked to investigate claims by Labour mayor Paul Muscat that he had rigged the contest to ensure a Sant victory. Muscat told the board he had made up the tampering story which, he told the board, he had used first to upset Spiteri and sub- sequently in an attempt to have Al- fred Sant removed after the Labour prime minister introduced unpopu- lar budgetary measures in 1997. Yet Spiteri remained loyal to Sant in opposition, but after the party was re-elected to power he found himself at odds with Sant's fiscal promise to remove VAT and he resigned. In his letter of resignation Spiteri cited personal reasons and declared that when he had accepted his post he had informed Sant that he would do so only temporarily. Spiteri later acknowledged that contesting the 1996 election with Sant's Labour despite his agreement with VAT was his greatest political mistake. From backbencher to columnist After resigning Lino Spiteri started speaking his mind on issues like the removal of VAT and the European Union. Surprisingly the secular minded Spiteri also declared that he would not support a divorce bill in parliament, as this was not part of the MLP's 1996 manifesto. Spiteri suffered the humiliating fate of providing ammunition for the propaganda machine of the oppos- ing party. In 1998 Spiteri together with Alex Sceberras Trigona and former MLP Deputy Leader George Abela was depicted in a PN pre-election bill- board entitled "Ma' Alfred Sant Ma Tahdimx". But Spiteri never tried to use the fact that Alfred Sant was relying on an unstable single seat majority to his advantage. Spiteri's dissent was in fact eclipsed by Dom Mintoff's outright mutiny in the summer of 1998. Spiteri did not contest the 1998 election when he declared that his political career was over. In 2002, the Pandora's box of the MLP's 1992 leadership was reopened but Spiteri made no attempt to chal- lenge the leadership again. In the subsequent years, Spiteri continued to make public pronouncements in his newspaper columns. He supported Malta's EU mem- bership bid and admitted not voting Labour in 2003, in an interview in 2008. He also supported his friend George Abela's bid for the leadership but subsequently praised Muscat for growing in stature before the 2013 election. Novelist and writer Spiteri started his political career in 1957 as a member of the national executive committee of the MLP, al- ready a regular contributor in MLP organ Il-Helsien. He was deputy edi- tor of It-Torca from 1964 to 1966 and then head of publications at Union Press and editor of Malta News be- tween 1967 and 1968. For five years, he was the local correspondent for The Observer and The Guardian. An established writer, he pub- lished various books of short stories. He married Vivienne Azzopardi and they had four children, Noelle, Ber- trand, Lara and Lincoln. own man George Abela – President emeri- tus, former Labour deputy leader "An intellectual who was capable of properly analysing every situation and as a courageous person who was never afraid to say what was on his mind. In my opinion, these were the typical ingredients of Lino Spiteri throughout his political and civil life. I had the great fortune of being a very good friend of his and I have many lovely memories of him." George Vella – Foreign Minister "I used to look up to Lino Spiteri when I started my political career. He was a very intelligent all-rounder and a born politician. He criticised when criticism was warranted and indeed was one of the only politicians who had criticised Dom Mintoff. He was very economically competent dur- ing his tenure at the Central Bank, a talented author, very dedicated to his work, and a good leader. We belonged to the same circles and I remember him as a man who had a great sense of humour and a fun character to be around." Eddie Fenech Adami – President emeritus, former Prime Minister "Undoubtedly a man of above aver- age intelligence. He was a man of few words but he always said what was on his mind and when he did speak it was always with sense, without any empty words. He was an outstanding man of gravitas." Dominic Fenech – Dean of the Fac- ulty of Arts "I count myself lucky to have known him in politics and in his writings. But above all that I have known him as a dear friend – a point of reference always available at more than one level, personal, emotional, intellectual, cultural. He was a fiercely loyal person who also deeply valued the loyalty of others. But his interest in people generally was genuine, even those who did not know him too well. "Where does one start recounting memories? Hearing the master of his Oxford University College, Sir Alec Cairncross, speaking of him as one of the brightest minds he ever met? Listening to him at his Cen- tral Bank office conversing on the telephone with world financial big shots? Interrupting Dom Mintoff midstream when the rest held their silence? "There was the time when foul means were used to defeat his bid for the party leadership, even before darker revelations emerged. He took it on the chin like a man, and only those who hurt him looked small. "He had great self-esteem, drawn from his mother's devotion and unbounded belief in him, I think. I commented about it once. He laughed and said, 'do you know why my mother did not call me Einstein? Because she had not heard of him'. He was disabled, suffered from it, overcame it, and became the stronger for it. "But the latest memory, which will be a lasting one, was the tremen- dous dignity with which lately he bore his murderous illness. He knew all along how serious his condition was. He dared to hope but did not feel entitled to fool himself. A man with his days counted who did not for a second succumb to self-pity." John Dalli – former Finance Min- ister "A political heavyweight. Al- though we had our differences, we agreed on a crucial issue. I had spo- ken with Spiteri about my plans to set up the Malta Financial Services Authority and he had decided to co- operate. His cooperation helped get the Labour Party on board, one of the few times that there was politi- cal consensus in Malta. The result was a unique economic motor that is still going strong today. Spiteri was pro-Europe and he apparently agreed with my decision to intro- duce VAT, one of the preconditions that Malta needed to fulfill before becoming an EU member state." Lawrence Grech – former editor of The Sunday Times of Malta "His defining characteristic was his belief that every Maltese person had a du- ty towards the island, be it through taxes, work, etcetera. He was a very able journalist, prolific in both Eng- lish and Maltese, and wrote about a variety of topics – from business to economics. "He had very leftist views that did not go down well with everyone. He was a very cultured person and was at the forefront of Malta's literature movement in the 60s. However, the allegations made against him in the run-up to the 1992 election for leadership of the Labour Party hurt him significantly. "Ultimately, he was a very bal- anced and honest person who loved his family." Ugo Mifsud Bonnici – President emeritus "Lino Spiteri was a very interesting person, both a genuine adversary and a good friend. He always made sense whenever he spoke, even in his criticisms. We of- ten met up personally, sometimes to discuss possible political solutions and sometimes to share our experi- ences over drinks." Tributes to Lino Spiteri Lino Spiteri autographing copies of his memoirs in 2008 2008: President Eddie Fenech Adami confers Lino Spiteri with the Companion of the Order of Merit