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Interview
Agatha, the true socialist
When
you have been brought up in difficult times under foreign rule,
the words social justice have a special meaning.
It is
these influences, among others, that have made the ex-Labour minister
and former President of the Republic, Agatha Barbara, sceptical
about the phrase New Labour and the concept of EU membership, MIRIAM
DUNN discovers
She grew up in difficult times, when much of the population was
blighted by poverty, illness, illiteracy and unemployment.
She had to plead with her parents to find the money to send her
to secondary school, since the reforms she would play a major role
in implementing which would ensure free education for all were still
a long way off. And she also witnessed her father lose the wage
rise he should have been awarded when promoted to tug master, because
he couldn't read or write.
No wonder that as a young woman, the former Labour education and
social security minister and President of the Republic, Agatha Barbara,
was looking for a vehicle that would enable her to help make the
changes and reforms that post-war Malta so desperately needed.
"After the war, we had many people unemployed – former
soldiers, the Drydocks workers - and no Constitution in place,"
she explains.
"The people governing us were not bothered about how these
people were going to live. At the time, there was no social justice
at all. I wanted to help put things right. I wanted to help people.
That was why I accepted people's encouragement to enter politics."
And did she feel daunted by the fact that she was young and female?
Ms Barbara, now in her seventies, smiles as she recalls a heated
conversation she had at the time with a Dominican monk, who, like
she, was a teacher.
"I remember the conversation drifted round to a proposal made
by the Labour movement at that time to give every citizen over 21
the right to vote," she says. "The Church was against
the idea of women having the vote and our colleague, who was an
intelligent priest, supported this standpoint of relegating women
to the kitchen.
"When he was talking, I eventually blew up and told him not
to air these views in my presence again. It made me realise that
even intelligent and educated priests had this philosophy of the
female role, which spurred me on further to show what women could
do."
Did this early encounter stay in Ms Barbara's mind during the ensuing
clashes between the Labour party and the Church, I ask her?
"Of course," she replies. "But the problems we had
with the Church came from the Church. After all, what we stood for
should not have been controversial - education and social justice
for everyone. Many mistakes were made from the Church's side and
a considerable number of priests suffered because they did not agree
with the Church's stand. But I think that with hindsight, the Church
has recognised that it made mistakes."
Ms Barbara also holds a view she stresses is shared by thousands
of others - that the MLP's quarrel was not with the Church, but
with Archbishop Gonzi.
"And we also believed that Archbishop Gonzi's decision to withdraw
the penalties was itself influenced and taken as a result of pressure
from the Vatican," she adds.
Since social justice is so close to her heart, I have to ask Ms
Barbara whether she feels that New Labour still represents the principles
she believes in so strongly.
"I think phrases like New Labour are unnecessary, because Labour
principles cannot change," she answers. "They might change
in the way you bring them into effect, but you either believe in
them or you don't.
"I don't like people using the phrase New Labour and I have
said so a few times."
And what about Mintoff, I ask her.
"Mintoff was unique, I don't think there will be another like
him," she answers. "As someone who worked with him all
my life, I can certainly say he had a vision and knew how to make
his dreams become real.
"They may criticise him, but it was Mintoff who led the way
for Malta's freedom from foreign occupation. He was the first to
bring real independence to the Maltese without shedding a drop of
blood. We are the only country that got our independence from the
British without fighting for it. Granted, we quarrelled around the
table, but he spoke for Malta and the Maltese. Lord Carrington,
the British secretary of state at the time, recognised this, although
he was fully aware that Mintoff drove a hard bargain."
She declines to comment on Mintoff's decision to vote against the
Labour government and his clash with Alfred Sant, saying it would
be unwise to rekindle such a fire.
"All I will say is that as someone who knew Mintoff well, it
was difficult for him to accept blanket rather than means-related
taxes, because his mind has always been bent on improving the lives
of the everyday people, especially the workers, the pensioners and
the sick," she says. "But it is equally important to point
out that the whole issue came about because of the huge national
deficit that had been left for the government of the time to deal
with."
Ms Barbara admits that the way politicians and Parliament operate
has changed over the years.
"For example, people tell me that they find it difficult to
get to see their MPs. A common gripe I hear is that they only meet
them before the election, when they come knocking on their doors,"
she says. "And I have also noticed how poorly attended some
parliamentary sittings and debates are today, and I find that a
great shame. Politicians on both sides simply do not seem to have
that close rapport with the electorate today."
And is she also disappointed that there are still so few female
MPs?
"Of course, I would like to see more women in Parliament,"
she replies. "I certainly believe women can be as good as men
in politics, and sometimes better.
"But in a way I am not surprised at the low number, because
it is very difficult for women with families, especially young children,
to juggle a political life, or any other demanding job, with commitments
at home. It was, after all, a choice I personally felt I had to
make."
And does she have any regrets about choosing politics over a family?
"None at all," is her answer. "I realised I couldn't
have everything, but I also knew that whichever path I took there
would be ups and downs. I accepted that."
And where does Ms Barbara stand on European Union membership?
"I am against full membership of the EU," she replies.
"I am not against close collaboration with Europe, of course
not. But the question of once again being occupied, as it were,
by a foreign power after we have striven for independence, and being
told what to do and how to do it, by foreigners, whether they are
friends or foes, is against my principles."
But isn't the EU a union of democratic decision-making rather than
an imposition, I suggest.
Ms Barbara is forthright in her response.
"Instead of France or Britain or any other single nation ruling
Malta, it will be the whole of Europe," she replies. "That
would be the worst concept in the whole history of Malta."
And what about the argument that Malta will also have a vote?
"We will have three votes, which just isn't worth it,"
she answers. "How can these three members have any effect against
the large number of votes that Germany or France or Italy has, for
example?"
I ask her whether, as a true Socialist, she accepts that the EU
has an excellent track record for supporting workers' rights.
"There is no reason why we cannot look after our workers ourselves,"
she answers. "We have already done a lot. After Freedom Day,
we strengthened workers' rights and laid the groundwork for social
legislation.
"In the 1970s, I had the satisfaction of witnessing much of
the social legislation I had been involved in coming into force;
two thirds pension, equal pay for equal work and employment according
to registration and seniority and education, and many others. We
put right a lot of the social injustices that had existed until
then."
Ms Barbara cites an example close to her heart – the case of
her father.
"My father was a tug master with the Navy. He was good at his
work and a good master, but had problems because he was Maltese
and illiterate," she explains. "He bought the book of
sea regulations and although I was 11 years' old, I had started
secondary school and could read, so he made me read one paragraph
after another until he learned the codes off by heart."
But, she continues, when he was interviewed for promotion to master,
he had to admit he couldn't write. So his employers made him tug
master but left his pay at the labourer's rate, made worse by the
fact that there was no pension on retirement at that time.
Ms Barbara is wistful as she remembers the unfairness of the situation,
but she manages a wry smile with her final comment.
"The British at that time were fortunate that I was still too
young to understand what was happening," she says, chuckling.
Fact
file
Born:
11 March 1923 at Zabbar,
First job: Supervisor in Victory kitchen during World War
2.
Profession: Teacher.
Highlights: First female MP, elected in 1946 and elected
10 consecutive times.
First female minister in 1974.
Police conduct: Sentenced to 43 days hard labour for picketing
in the national strike of 1958.
Remembered for: Malta's first woman president, in 1982.
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