News • 23 March 2003

Rapprochement between Mintoff and Sant in sight

By Kurt Sansone

As Freedom Day, 31 March, approaches signs have begun to emerge of a possible rapprochement between Dom Mintoff and the Labour Party, just in time for the general election.

The long-standing boycott by Super One television on Dom Mintoff was broken this week when the Labour Party-owned station reported the meetings Dom Mintoff addressed in a number of localities. On Friday, Super One showed footage of the octogenarian addressing a crowd in Kalkara and a Labour television crew was also present in Bormla when Mintoff addressed sympathisers on Tuesday.

In Zebbug yesterday, Mintoff even went as far as to instruct his listeners to vote for Labour Party candidates, who would ensure that "Malta remains free."

The first signs of what seems to be a slowly healing rift started to appear a couple of months ago when during the referendum campaign Labour leader Dr Alfred Sant praised the ‘spirit of freedom’ achieved in 1979 by Dom Mintoff. Malta ceased to be a military base of the British military on 31 March 1979, Freedom Day, and for many years it represented the ‘true’ independence day for Labourites.

Sant’s talk of reconciliation and his open invitation to Labourites feeling estranged from the party, to forget the past and join the team may also be interpreted as a sign of goodwill from the Opposition leader.

In electoral terms, the Labour Party does not perceive Mintoff as a threat anymore. The Mintoffians that deserted the MLP after 1998 are now back in the fold, but reconciliation with Dom Mintoff would help Sant strengthen his position within the party. Ahead of the general election, reconciliation would be a bonus for the MLP.

Ever since Dom Mintoff returned from oblivion last year with his Front Maltin Inqumu (Malta Arise Front), the former Prime Minister never hid his animosity toward Alfred Sant.

Mintoff blamed Sant for alienating the Labour Party from its working class roots. He even described Sant’s proposal for holding a second referendum as an "idiocy" (paprata). However, the tide has slowly shifted.

The FMI did not have a high profile campaign in the run up to the referendum with Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici being the front man for televised debates.

However, following the referendum the FMI hit the streets with one meeting after the other in which the main speaker was always Dom Mintoff. The message pushed forward by Mintoff is as simple as it can get; he encourages his listeners not to vote for the Nationalist Party in the next general election.

On Tuesday in his birthplace, Bormla, Mintoff was greeted warmly by a sizeable crowd of sympathisers. There were no signs of animosity similar to those witnessed when Mintoff was a guest on Xarabank broadcast from Bormla’s main square last year.

People flocked beneath the stage with Labour Party handkerchiefs in hand.

When Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici introduced Dom Mintoff as the father of Malta’s neutrality and freedom the crowd applauded.

In masterly fashion Mintoff stood up and asked the crowd to observe at least half a minute’s silence to commemorate the memory of General Workers’ Union section secretary Tony Coleiro, who died in December. The half-minute of silence never came as Mintoff rambled on with his speech.

But the Coleiro mention was an unexpected sign of goodwill. Despite being close to Mintoff during the turbulent months between 1996 and 1998, Coleiro had openly criticised Mintoff last year for attacking the MLP. The rift between the two reached its climax when Coleiro and other people heckled Mintoff on Xarabank.

But in Bormla the former premier was in no mood for conflict with people close to his ideals.

The referendum was rubbished as a futile exercise and, just as he did in Zurrieq the previous Saturday, Mintoff warned the people not to vote for the Nationalists in the forthcoming election. The same criticism was made in Kalkara on Friday and in Zebbug yesterday.

People close to Mintoff admit there seems to be a more reconciliatory approach between the Labour Party and ix-Xih (The Old Man) but they are reluctant to state whether both sides will eventually bury the hatchet. The feeling among Cottonera Labourites, who still hold Mintoff in high esteem, is that just before the election Sant and Mintoff will smoke a peace pipe together. If that were to happen Freedom Day would be the ideal occasion.

However, in typical Mintoff style, the former premier never reveals his cards. He still attacks the obstinacy of Alfred Sant, but the criticism is nowhere near what it was in 1998.kurt@maltamag.com