Guido de Marco - a man for all seasons

A rousing orator who inspired anti Labour crowds in the 1980s, he was also an architect of the compromises which brought an end to civil strife but left a shroud of darkness on part of Malta’s recent history. It is these contradictions which make Guido De Marco one of the few Maltese politicians who changed the course of history, rather than flowing with the current. 

If there was one role which fit­ted Guido de Marco’s aristocrat­ic but bubbly and affable char­acter, it was his appointment as President of the Republic – a cer­emonial office which embodied his deep sense of the state while giving him the chance to excel in the art of building bridges.

Given his political baggage as the Nationalist party’s Number 2 and his secretive rapport with Dom Mintoff – which resur­faced in the summer of 1998 when Mintoff was bringing Al­fred Sant’s government down – he started his presidency with all the odds posed against him. Added to this was the height­ened political tension associated with the EU membership cam­paign which unfolded during his presidency.

For how could he build bridges when the leader of the opposi­tion believed that he was in­volved in the plots and conspir­acies to oust him from power? Ultimately, despite his charm he never won over Alfred Sant’s trust but he still showed a re­markable ability to rise above the partisan divide.

He also made the presidency relevant to everyday life through his media savvy ways and by taking public stands on social and non-partisan issues.

Not only did he build a friendly rapport with the General Work­ers Union (Tony Zarb in particu­lar) and with anti-establishment figures like Patri Mark Mon­tebello, but he also defied con­servative stereotypes, advocat­ing causes like prisoner rights and opposing prison sentences for drug addicts.

While paying homage to Mal­ta’s Christian heritage, he made a clear distinction between di­vorce and abortion. When asked whether he would sign bills on these two controversial topics, his reply was he would resign from office if parliament ap­proves an abortion bill to avoid a constitutional crisis, but would have no qualms on signing a di­vorce bill.

Interview in 2007 by Malta-Today he made a very revealing comment on the clash between confessionalism and liberalism in the Nationalist party.

“In theory, the Nationalist Party always starts with a rather confessional approach, but then starts evolving by the pulse of the people. It is a party which is very close to the people”

The President of the World
Another role which fitted with de Marco’s character was that of President of the United Nations General Assembly becoming one of the few western leader with a personal rapport with Palestin­ian leader Yasser Arafat, a man shunned as a terrorist by Israel and the United States right up to the end of his life.

Interviewed by MaltaToday in 2006, de Marco revealed his dealings with the Palestinians during the time when they “were foolishly siding” with Saddam Hussein who had just invaded Kuwait.

“On that occasion, I warned the Palestinians that after win­ning their independence they will be a small state like Kuwait and that they are obliged to side with Kuwait and those defend­ing its sovereignty.”

De Marco recalled his month­ly telephone conversation with Arafat.

“He used to say; ‘tell the Eu­ropeans to help, as they can do it’.”His chemistry with Arafat could reflect de Marco’s identification with anti-colonialism but also from his ability to find common ground with third world politicians of the ilk of his friend and nemesis Dom Mintoff. But while his visits to Palestinian refugee camps earned him respect in the Arab world, his efforts to persuade Europeans to accept Malta as member of the EU were often met with scepticism. De Marco can boast of having his signature on three historical documents marking Malta’s long march to join the European Union, namely the original application to join the European Union, the reactivation of the membership bid in 1998 after it was frozen for two years and finally, on the bill approved by the Maltese parliament making EU membership an act of law.

“I started it all on 16 July of 1990 when I personally delivered Malta’s application to join the European Economic Community to Italian Foreign Minister Gianni De Michelis,” he told MaltaToday in 2007.

But he recalled scepticism from other European countries which played against Malta.

“It took me three years to persuade British Foreign Minister Douglas Hurd."

The European ticket
De Marco’s ultimate disap­pointment was that of seeing Finland and Sweden jump the queue in 1995 even if he claims that by 1996 Malta was in pole position among the new appli­cant states.

And de Marco might have had a fundamental role in the change of government which brought Malta on track to become EU member.

De Marco’s greatest legacy in Maltese politics could well be the least known aspect; that of bridge builder and Mintoff’s rusted interlocutor in resolving the constitutional crisis follow­ing the 1981 election. 

What brought these two irreconcilable characters together–one rushed, rude and impatient and the other polite, patient and attentive – is difficult to comprehend.

“We built a bridge of trust be­tween us, which held well for many years,” de Marco says in his autobiography which is unfortunately scant on details on this aspect of Malta’s history.

Yet it was the same de Marco who equated the events dur­ing Mintoff’s time as a “recur­rence of what happened in Italy at the start of fascism as well as in Germany in the first days of Nazism.”

De Marco’s diplomatic chan­nels with Labour even included a series of secret meetings with President Agatha Barbara. According to Barbara’s niece Jane Chircop, Barbara kept these meetings secret, even from her circle.

Another dissonance in de Marco’s political career is between his staunch defence of human rights in cause celebre cases like the frame up of Peter Paul Busuttil and the way he treated former police officials accused of human rights violation when he was Min­ister responsible for the police.

In a passage in the autobiography, de Marco says that “those within the Police force found guilty of crimes or of gross mis behaviour had been removed by legal means.”

But he doesn’t comment on why the notorious former inspectors Joseph Psaila and Charles Cassar were not only allowed to stay in the corps, but were also awarded various promotions under a Na­tionalist government until they were finally removed from the Police during Alfred Sant’s tenure in Castille.

Always loyal
But his dealings with Labour never impinged on de Marco’s loyalty towards Eddie FenechAdami, a man he had challenged for the party’s leadership along­side Censu Tabone in the 1977 contest.

Former Nationalist MP Michael Falzon recounts that Guido de Marco told one of the gather­ings held before the election that the country needed a ‘Winston Churchill’. With the implication that he was the man to fill that role, Fenech Adami responded by telling his next gathering that he was also capable of acting as a ‘Winston Churchill’, while actu­ally lighting a cigar.

Yet the leadership battle did not impede Fenech Adami from ap­pointing De Marco as his second in command, in marked contrast with the more acrimonious battle between Lawrence Gonzi and John Dalli 30 years later.

Ironically Fenech Adami was later to appoint his two rivals in the 1977 contest Presidents of the Republic, only to be appointed in the same role by his successor Lawrence Gonzi.

 This feature appeared in MaltaToday on Sunday