Ex-minister reveals all

The allegations about vote rigging that supposedly took place in 1992, when Alfred Sant was elected Labour leader, is one of the topics raised in a book to be launched by former finance minister Lino Spiteri later this week.

In a number of hitherto unpublished recollections, Mr Spiteri reveals several anecdotes and episodes and explains their contextual significance in a book - entitled Jien U Ghaddej Fil-Politika - that is likely to provoke reactions when it is published on Thursday.

Mr Spiteri recalled that he was summoned to appear before the MLP Vigilance Board following an anonymous letter about him before the MLP leadership election of 1992.

"I told the board they could forget about the leadership issue as I was going to declare publicly I did not want to have anything to do with a party in which there was so much filth and prejudice. The board members said they did not want me to do this.

"MLP delegate Paul Muscat declared he had rigged votes against me in the second leg of the voting process, after I had polled the highest number of votes in the first round.

"Only the cooks can tell what went into the broth of 1992. What bothered me most was the way Alfred Sant twisted the issue in 2000 and gave the impression that I had started it all up, rather than blaming someone who had gone to celebrate with him when he became leader," Mr Spiteri said.

Mr Spiteri also reflects on how the late outspoken Archbishop Michael Gonzi used to exclaim: "Look in whose hands Malta will one day be" each time he read articles in the press by Mr Spiteri. Mr Spiteri said he was "scandalised by (Dom) Mintoff" in 1968. It was a time when the idea of socialism, of everybody being equal, was taking a strong hold.

"He told me I was unable to deal with people. I told him people considered him as a god and, though I too believed in him, I did not consider him as a god myself. But he told me that I should not blame people for thinking he's a god, as everybody has a god!"

Mr Spiteri also speaks about the MLP's pledge to remove VAT if elected. "I should not have contested the 1996 election. That was my biggest political mistake," Mr Spiteri said.

Mr Spiteri said it bothered him that the issue about the Cottonera project led to the Labour government's downfall in 1998. "(Mr) Mintoff had voted against the project and Alfred Sant declared he was considering it a vote of confidence. Those who had voted Labour deserved a Labour government for the whole five years," Mr Spiteri said.

He revealed he was offered a top post in the EU by the then Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami in 2004.

"Dr Fenech Adami had informed me that Cabinet had decided to nominate me for the post in the European Court of Auditors, an offer I turned down."

In his book, Mr Spiteri pays tribute to Malta's first President, Sir Anthony Mamo, whom he describes as "the greatest Maltese personality because of his integrity, dignity and exemplary way he went about things. He always excelled in whatever he did".

He also salutes Daniel Micallef, a medical doctor from Rabat whose votes in 1971 gave the MLP its victory, and Paul Xuereb, who had been appointed Acting President and who, following violent incidents at Rabat, went on television to denounce them.

He also speaks of his relations with businessmen Sonny Borg of Bortex and Tumas Fenech of the Tumas Group.

The book will be launched at the Hilton on Thursday evening and a signing session by the author will take place at Sapienza's Bookshop, in Valletta, on Saturday morning.