No, prime minister

As former Labour minister Lino Spiteri turns 70 today, he speaks to Herman Grech about the trials and tribulations of Maltese politics.

If you had to credit yourself with one contribution to local politics, what would it be?

I led the Labour Party to the principle of majority rule. It took a lot of doing, it took a lot of perseverance at Cabinet level, my colleagues hurled insults at me but finally it came through. It only came through after the killing of (young Nationalist activist) Raymond Caruana (in December 1986), which changed the mood of the more important members of Cabinet.

Dom Mintoff is on record saying he was prepared to call another election after the flawed 1981 result and that it was the ministers who dissuaded him from doing so. Am I to assume you weren't one of them?

When Mr Mintoff tentatively came up questioning whether we should govern or not, I was one of the ministers who questioned what would have happened to the country if we didn't govern and I accepted the mandate given to us according to the Constitution. Mintoff wasn't serious. He was simply testing the waters to see how the other Cabinet members and the international community would react. When I said there would be bedlam in the country if we didn't accept the mandate, Mintoff didn't counteract it. When foreign governments recognised our government, he didn't bring up the subject again.

So with the benefit of hindsight, do you still think it would have been a bad idea to go for a snap election then?

It would have been a very bad idea. It was a tense time and calling an early election wouldn't have solved anything. What we needed to solve were the electoral arrangements - and that's why I raised it when Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici became Prime Minister. I told him to drop at least three ministers, me included. I also told him to bring forward amendments to ensure that the party with the majority of votes would govern, irrespective of the (number of) seats won.

You were a prominent minister during the turbulent 1980s. Do you look back in shame?

I was ashamed then at some of the things taking place. The question is: why did I stay on? I don't think I would have helped by resigning, but I did make my point internally about some of the things happening.

Such as?

People in police custody were treated (in a rough manner). At the time there were a handful of policemen who really shamed the government and the police force. It wasn't as if the entire police force was acting in that manner, or that all the ministers were allowing their riff-raff to wreak havoc. It was the tail biting the dog, and unfortunately the leadership (was doing) nothing to control that rough minority.

Can you safely say there were ministers who didn't deserve their seat?

Yes, there were one or two. That's why I recommended to Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici when he became prime minister that he drops two ministers and myself.

Can you name them?

No.

Did you tell them?

They knew where I stood to the extent that on one occasion within the Cabinet I was physically threatened. They knew I spoke my mind and I spoke bluntly.

What do you mean 'physically threatened'?

There was a time when I was in charge of the finance ministry and I realised there were leaks in the income tax department. I told the minister who was receiving those leaks that 'you don't do that'. Instead of accepting the fact that he had erred he said: 'I will tie my hand behind my back and fight you'. I said 'you don't need to tie your hand behind your back to fight against me, but that's not the way to solve this problem'.

When the MLP lost the 1987 election, did you feel it deserved it?

Yes it did - for not having brought about the constitutional changes earlier. Had Dr Mifsud Bonnici accepted my advice, and had he exercised a firmer hand on the way some ministers and police acted, it would have been different. The Labour Party lost the moral right to remain in government.

Back in 1992, you contested the post of MLP leader. In your autobiography you had said that Eddie Fenech Adami had expressed relief that you weren't elected. How did you feel?

He was wrong at the time... and he is wrong in retrospect, because I probably wouldn't have made a very good leader.

Was it a big ambition of yours to become Prime Minister?

It wasn't. It was something which hung around my neck. Since my youth, people said Lino would do well in politics and that Lino would make a good leader. It was something which propelled me. In fact I didn't feel like contesting when George Vella withdrew from the contest but my friends said I wouldn't live up to their expectations if I did that.

If you weren't so bitter about the outcome of the election for leader why did you decide to open a can of worms years later when you insinuated that votes had been manipulated?

I wasn't bitter. Bitterness is something I eschew. But I was committed to the truth and when it was put to me that there were dubious tactics, that there was hanky-panky, I could have done two things - smile to myself, or externalise it. I heard the story had been leaked to the Nationalist Party in July/August 2000 so I decided to release the story on my terms.

Some people don't understand what kind of wrongdoing there was in that election. What really happened?

I just repeated what was said. I didn't come up with any theories. Paul Muscat declared that he had stuffed the ballot box and later on he admitted saying so, but then changed his version, saying he disliked me and Alfred Sant.

Do you believe there was wrongdoing?

Yes...

... which clearly favoured Alfred Sant?

Yes.

Do you think the Nationalists somehow had a hand in it?

I don't think so. I don't even think Dr Sant had a hand in it. It was the work of two or three people who were very keen not to see me elected and that Alfred would be. I think that had he known, he wouldn't have approved. The Nationalists had a hand in the propaganda; they had a hand in revealing the first part of that saga which consisted of anonymous letters in my regard, letters which I immediately handed over to the vigilance board to investigate.

Do you fear that the same (manoeuvres) took place in last June's election for Labour leader?

No. The last election was a transparent one. The Labour Party has learnt from the past. There was interference - it wasn't in the form of ballot stuffing - it was in the form of unfair queuing, unfair promotion of certain candidates...

... that's what George Abela said.

Not just Dr Abela. It was a campaign against all the other candidates - Dr Abela was the favourite of the 'other' candidates, so he bore the brunt of the unfair propaganda, unfair use of the party machinery.

When you look at the last two elections for MLP leader, do you think the party could have gone about them in a more mature way?

It was a comedy of errors. Dr Mifsud Bonnici resigned - even if we didn't want him to resign, politically he was right to do so. He proposed a successor the same way Mr Mintoff had done and in the process shocked his own nominee - George Vella. It taught a lesson to the political class - the incumbent leader shouldn't interfere about his successor.

You resigned as finance minister in 1997 because you disagreed with Dr Sant on the VAT issue. The Labour Party made it clear in its 1996 election campaign that it was running on an anti-VAT ticket. Why did you contest the election as a Labour candidate?

That was my gravest political mistake. When Dr Sant announced that the party would remove VAT he hadn't consulted anybody. He didn't consult me as shadow finance minister. When that happened in 1994 I should have immediately resigned, but I didn't.

When did you tell Dr Sant that his VAT policy was wrong?

Straight away. I learned what he had said over dinner at a restaurant in Sliema when a friend asked me with what I was proposing to replace VAT. As it happened, the Labour leader had just said he would remove VAT if elected to government. It was news to me. I felt like an idiot. On the morrow I confronted Dr Sant about it and told him: "how could you have said something like that?"

And what did he say?

He said: "I know you disagree, I wanted to commit you."

How did you feel when he committed you to change a policy you completely disagreed with?

I felt like an idiot, but the idiocy on my part was to stay on. I stayed on not to harm the party's growing chances of returning to government. I love the party not wisely, but too much.

At the time there was growing discontent over the party's EU freeze policy. Wasn't the writing on the wall?

At that time I was against EU membership. I didn't think it suited Malta. But when the MLP won the 1996 election and found the finances in shambles I felt it would be wrong to change the expectations which had been built up about the EU. So in the early months I pressed Dr Sant to change tack on VAT and the EU. We would have been justified in changing our electoral position considering the derelict situation we found - but he would have none of it.

Did you expect the Labour Party to lose the last election?

No. I expected the Labour Party to win the last election even if it were led by the man on the other side of the moon. The Nationalists were tired and it was there for the taking. It's a wonder how the MLP managed to lose the election.

What's your analysis of the defeat?

The approach was completely wrong, the leadership, the campaign, the negative feel was wrong. This is borne out by the MLP's electoral report. It was a mess of a campaign.

Dr Muscat has been steering the Labour Party for 100 days. How would you analyse his performance so far?

I think he's started well. The fact that he's young is an advantage in the sense that he has energy and an open mind but at the same time it's used by his opponents to try to project him as immature. I think he has overcome that by coming forward with a number of definite positions. He didn't hesitate to say that he made a mistake by opposing EU membership.

He has a tendency to come out with statements that surprise you with their honesty. I think it's a tactic. He has thought them out and throws them to change the balance of the game. The real challenges are yet to come - of being a leader with a killer instinct. For instance he hasn't cleaned the Augean stables. He hasn't used his influence to change the political machinery of the MLP.

Was it a good move for him to appoint a party CEO?

It was a good move.

Do you think it signals a demotion for the general secretary?

I think it was a direct statement that the structure of the party was going to change. It should revise the role of the general secretary to what it used to be. He should be in charge of the party machinery, not in charge of the media. He shouldn't be coming forward as though he is a leader of the party. A general secretary is a servant of the party.

If Dr Muscat had to ask you to rejoin the party in some capacity, would you accept?

He has asked me and I told him that I have left politics, not the party. In 1995 I made it clear it was my last election. I was 23 when I got involved politics. I am not independent. I have my political beliefs. I am a Social Democrat but I won't get back into politics. And I won't be a returning trophy. It's up to the former ministers to move forward in the way they think best. I don't happen to agree with that - you don't go in front of the camera with all that embracing and emotion. That's not politics, that's theatre. I'm a writer but I've never written drama... or comedy for that matter.

Does the MLP reflect the Socialist principles you have worked towards?

The MLP is a conglomerate, like other parties. By and large it is a party which could call itself - provided it reviews itself - left of centre. We need to have that in Maltese politics. We can't all be in the centre.

But is the MLP the party you associate yourself with most?

Yes it is. It can become that again. For the last few years it has drifted off the left of centre path but I believe it's slowly getting there again. I'm not saying that it should come out in favour of State nationalisation.

If the Labour Party shifted away from this position in the last few years, did you actually vote for it?

I voted for EU membership, which meant that I didn't vote for the MLP. But that's all.

Which means?

I remained a Labourite but I wanted us to be in the EU.

What about the last election?

In the last election the die was cast, we were members of the EU. I was away for the last election and I didn't vote. I was abroad, visiting my children, and the date was booked before the election date was announced. I wasn't about to change my plans because of the election.

Was it a convenient excuse to stay away from voting?

No it wasn't.

If you were here would you have voted Labour?

I would have. Yes.

What do you think of Lawrence Gonzi as Prime Minister?

He's honest, like Dr Sant and Dr Muscat. He's a likable person. He's got potential but he started by wasting part of that potential. Dr Gonzi came into politics with the name he built as an excellent Speaker. I think he could have developed more as a statesman. Instead he has sunk to the level of party leader very fast.

I think he had misguided advice. A distinctive leader who has the qualities of a statesman can rise above the political hurly burly. That hasn't happened. On the other hand, he has been faced with a very negative opposition. Since his party's re-election he said he has listened to the people's message, but he hasn't. If so, the persons appointed on the various government and public sector boards would have been less of a Nationalist bias. On the other hand, he responded to Muscat's call to broaden the improvement of democracy in Malta.

The state of public finances doesn't appear all that rosy, though the government remains committed to eliminating the deficit. What would you do if you were finance minister?

I wouldn't have come forward with the proposal to raise income tax rate thresholds. That was a rash and very political decision which was bound to boomerang. Both the PN and the MLP made commitments which could not be delivered in the first couple of years in government. There are going to be some tough measures in the Budget which cannot be balanced out with tax sweet morsels. It would be irresponsible.

Would you raise taxes?

If need be, yes. I was the one to come out with the principle of fiscal morality. I would be determined to eliminate evasion and neglect. If need be I would look at easing VAT in certain sectors and extending it elsewhere.

Apart from a former politician, you've always been a highly respected columnist. What has it given you?

It gives me great joy. I've been writing for 45 years and I never got a penny for the first 30 years.

Does Maltese politics provide you with enough fodder?

Yes it does, but I write about other matters too. If I only wrote about politics I would be a dull person indeed.

Has politics in Malta made us lose our perspective?

I think it has made us lose a lot of the perspective that a civilised person should have. We've always had division in Malta at several levels, but the division in politics in Malta is not just amazing, but disgusting.

Excerpts of this interview are available on www.timesofmalta.com.