interview

The architect who built f riendships in the House

CARM LINO SPITERI, NOW 69 YEARS OF AGE, WITNESSED MANY POLITICAL UPS AND DOWNS DURING HIS CAREER AS NATIONALIST MP AND PARTY WHIP. TODAY HE SPEAKS TO KURT SANSONE ABOUT LIFE INSIDE PARLIAMENT, HOW HE MANAGED TO RETAIN CLOSE FRIENDSHIPS WITH COLLEAGUES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE POLITICAL DIVIDE, HIS TURBULENT RELATIONSHIP WITH LORRY SANT AND THE ‘PA MONSTER’.

Carm Lino Spiteri, better known as Cumpaq, launched into a political career in 1970 after both party leaders of the time, Gorg Borg Olivier and Dom Mintoff, approached him to contest the forthcoming elections on behalf of their respective parties.

Mr Spiteri, a respected architect, recalls how Dr Borg Olivier asked him to contest the 1971 election on behalf of the Nationalist Party.

"Dr Borg Olivier knew that my principles were close to the Nationalist Party’s beliefs, however I was still not very interested in contesting elections," he explains.

The situation became more complicated when Mintoff then approached Mr Spiteri to contest with the Labour Party.

"Mintoff knew me through some consultancy work I had conducted for him when the Sheraton Hotel was being built," he recounts. "However, I could not accept his offer. I told him that I had no intention of contesting the elections, but if I was persuaded, it would certainly be with the Nationalist Party."

The triggering factor that encouraged Mr Spiteri to contest the 1971 election was the decision of Dr Daniel Micallef, a well known Mellieha doctor, to stand on behalf of the Labour Party.

"I knew Daniel personally," Mr Spiteri explains, with a smile. "He was Mellieha’s doctor and I was, by comparison, the village architect. We enjoyed good relations and when he chose to contest I decided to enter the fray as well."

Cumpaq was well known for the good relations he enjoyed with his political adversaries.

Spelling out his philosophy, he says: "Although my principles belonged to the Nationalist Party, I respected the opinions of people who did not agree with me. I always believed that different opinions were important for the political debate. After all, if everybody held the same beliefs we would have a dictatorship."

Mr Spiteri admits that something he couldn’t stand was political transfers.

"As long as people did not engage in vindictive transfers I was prepared to remain friends with them," he says.

The discussion turned to the love-hate relationship Mr Spiteri had with the late Lorry Sant.

He smiles, describing the question of their relationship as a ‘64,000 dollar question’.

"The first time I met Lorry Sant face to face during a parliamentary session in 1971, I was smoking a cigarette outside parliament when all of a sudden somebody patted me on the shoulder," he recalls. "I turned around and found Lorry Sant standing behind me. He then asked me whether I was interested in designing and supervising the construction of his house in Fgura. It was a surprise but on a professional level I accepted."

The story did not end there. Some years later, Mr Spiteri had a clash with Lorry Sant over allegations made by one of the PN MP’s clients. As a result of the clash, Lorry Sant, who was public works minister at the time, gave an order to withhold all building permits in which Mr Spiteri was involved as an architect.

"The order was eventually repealed but I lost a lot of clients because of that move," Mr Spiteri says.

However, the worst incident came in 1981, while Mr Spiteri was shadow minister for public works and often stood up to criticise the way building permits were being issued.

"I had criticised certain permits that were issued abusively," he explains. "Lorry was incensed by my criticism and during the parliamentary session he stood up from his chair, crossed the floor and punched me in the face. I had blood all over my face."

The serious incident was followed by a challenge put forward by Lorry Sant.

"Some days after the incident, Lorry made a statement in parliament in which he challenged me to provide him with a list of ‘abusive’ permits within 36 hours," he says. "I accepted it hands down even though I had a tight time limit."

In the limited time available, Mr Spiteri managed to provide a list of 33 cases complete with site plans, but explains that events did not stop there because in parliament Lorry Sant declared that 17 specific cases ‘would not be reconsidered’.

"Furthermore, Lorry did not give any reason for the exclusion of the 17 cases," he adds. "I criticised this decision because it was simply unacceptable. From then on we remained at loggerheads."

However, things changed when Lorry Sant was seriously ill. "Lorry was practically on his death bed when I went to see him a couple of times at hospital," Mr Spiteri says. "The attitude was ‘let bygones be bygones.’ We were political adversaries but we respected each other."

Given his good relations with Labour MPs I wonder what Mr Spiteri thinks about the politically motivated violence of the eighties.

"You cannot tar everyone with the same brush," is his answer. "I had my bad experiences as well. During the Tal-Barrani incidents in Zejtun I ended up not speaking for three whole days after swallowing tear gas. But you find hooligans everywhere. I believe that the mistake was the government’s lack of control over the situation. I suffered but I hold no grudges."

Mr Spiteri retired from the political scene after the 1996 election in which he was not elected.

"I called it a day even though Eddie Fenech Adami asked me to re-consider. I was 64 years of age at the time and with ageing politicians making way for new blood I decided that my time was up," he says. "When the snap 1998 election was announced, Eddie still wanted me to contest once again, but I did not accept."

Carm Lino Spiteri was first elected to parliament in 1971 after a by-election. In 1976 he was elected under his own steam from one district while in 1981 he sailed through in two districts, making it something of a shock when, in 1987, he failed to get elected.

"I believe that was my biggest political remorse. It was a big shock for me," he admits, regret in evidence. "I had been parliamentary whip and had worked hard but it was not to be."

The 1987 personal defeat was a hard one to stomach, especially because Mr Spiteri had an ambition to become minister of public works. But the Mellieha architect staged a comeback and got elected in the 1992 election. Once again he was chosen to be parliamentary whip.

So does he have any misgivings about his political career, I ask him.

The answer is an emphatic no.

"I helped a lot of people but I always made one thing clear, if what they asked for was impossible to achieve I told them immediately," he says.

In spite of being out of the political fray for five years, Mr Spiteri is still very interested in the political debate and agrees strongly with Malta’s EU membership.

I ask him whether he thinks the government is hurrying with the process.

"You have to see things in perspective," he replies. "The Nationalist party has made clear its intention to join the EU for a good number of years. The two years Labour spent in government changed that course. Today the government is only making up for lost time."

The Labour party’s alternative to EU membership is something Mr Spiteri still cannot fathom.

"I cannot understand Sant’s position of remaining on the European doorstep," he says. "In any negotiating process, whether it is membership of the EU or any other relationship, you invariably have a give and take situation."

True to his Nationalist roots, Mr Spiteri voices his hope that he will still be around when Malta eventually joins the European Union.

I then ask him to comment on the current tit-for-tat debates, viewed as sometimes verging on pettiness and pique, that we are currently witnessing in parliament.

Drawing on his vast years of experience, he admits that he cannot agree with a destructive opposition.

"On national issues the Opposition should adopt a constructive approach," he says. "On the other hand, it would be a mistake for the government to ignore positive contributions from the Opposition."

The question begs: What about the animal rights bill that was drafted by the opposition and ignored by government?

"It is government’s job to draft laws and present them. If the opposition did not agree with certain aspects of that law they should propose amendments to government’s bill. If the amendments are good, there is no reason for government not to accept them," Mr Spiteri answers.

He adds shrewdly, "People can than reach their own conclusions on who was acting in the best interest."

Turning to the 1998 political debacle, Mr Spiteri firmly believes that Labour has no one to blame but itself for not completing its full term in power.

"After all, it was not the Opposition that called Mintoff a traitor," he remarks.

Mr Spiteri recalls that during the four-year period between 1992-96 when he was an MP, it was evident that the Labour party wanted to ostracise Mintoff.

"The Labour Party did not allow him to speak in parliament. I recall instances when Mintoff stood up asking for a chance to speak. The Labour veteran was being undermined for a long time and when somebody hurts..."

Mr Spiteri doesn’t finish the sentence, but the look on his face says it all; the 1998 scenario was Mintoff’s way of getting back at his tormentors.

Leaving the political world behind, the discussion turns to Mr Spiteri’s profession and inevitably the Planning Authority comes up.

The architect was quite emotional about the subject and certainly doesn’t mince his words.

"In 1992 in Parliament I had said that we created a monster and I still believe this," he says

Mr Spiteri then accuses the PA of using two weights and two measures, something I have to ask him to elaborate on.

"There is a whole list of decisions showing the PA’s inconsistency," he explains. "For example, the Gzira waterfront has a height limit of six storeys. However, when a particular hotel was built it was given a permit for nine storeys. Another example concerned me directly. I was the architect of the Vivaldi Hotel in Paceville, and when we applied for permits the PA asked me to create a sizeable underground parking area. Why were similar establishments in the area not required to create parking facilities?"

He names one case after another, pointing out inconsistencies, and finally lays the blame squarely on the shoulders of the PA’s technical board.

The public’s perception is that the PA is heavy handed with the small fry while the rich entrepreneurs can do what they like. I ask Mr Spiteri what he thinks of this point of view.

"I cannot agree with this idea," he replies. "I have clients who are among the richest on the Island and yet their permits get bogged down like anybody else’s. The sad reality is that some well-known architects have good connections in the PA and they get their permits approved quickly. What happens is that developers go to these architects, knowing that they will obtain their permits quickly."

Mr Spiteri was involved in numerous construction projects including the new airport terminal at Gudja. However, one of the most controversial was the proposed cement production plant in Siggiewi. The project eventually fell through after immense public pressure.

Asked to comment on this controversial case, Mr Spiteri says he is convinced that the type of plant planned was not going to do any harm to residents.

"The proposed development was of a high technological standard and similar plants in Germany were built in the middle of residential areas," he explains.

I point out that the main argument espoused by the lobby group opposing the cement plant was that Malta lacks the enforcement to ensure the plant maintained the high standards proposed by the developers.

"But if there is no enforcement the authorities must ensure that the right structures are created to maintain certain controls," he retaliates. "One cannot stop projects simply because the country lacks enforcement."

Steering away from controversy I end the interview by asking him how he got his nickname. Mr Spiteri laughs, recalling how the term goes back to his Lyceum years in 1945.

"A physics teacher had asked me a question and my answer was miles away from the expected reply," he explains. "The teacher came up to me and shouted down my ear cumpaqpum, to make me realise that I had simply shot out an irrelevant answer. Ever since, my nickname has been Cumpaq and I am proud of it."