Winning with sympathy and understanding

In politics some people are disliked. Others are hated. Some are tolerated. A number of others are respected. But there remains a great divide between those who command respect and those who are truly loved by all and sundry for their style, their verve, their charisma and their connectivity.

For someone so deeply engaged in local politics in a career that almost spanned four decades, it is no mean feat that a person as combative as Guido de Marco managed to win the sympathy, understanding and, yes, even the appreciation of people diametrically opposed to his political views. To manage to develop a personal relationship with eminent personalities ranging from top European leaders to former politicians like Giulio Andreotti and key political figures like Shimon Peres, Yasser Arafat and Muammar Gaddafi is definitely not an everyday occurrence.

I am sure that, like every politician, he must have experienced difficult moments even in his day-to-day life but he never showed it. On the contrary, he made it so easy for one to empathise with him as he skillfully drew on one’s strengths and always highlighted the positives of some of his strongest political adversaries.

Although I am quite sure that in most cases he did not share my same views, he used to encourage me to write as much as I could since my early days, even before entering Parliament. It was ironic that when we last met during the interval of the Joseph Calleja concert a few weeks ago, he touched upon my articles with some of the friends sitting next to him.

I am not one for flattery but, with all the back-stabbing that goes on in politics, it is reassuring to meet people like him who were always ready to offer encouragement rather than political hatred.

While some found it hard to attend the launch of his memoirs The Politics Of Persuasion because they already had a foretaste of its political content, I had no qualms in doing so because, as we had discussed on another occasion, one cannot expect him to ignore his years in politics as if they never existed simply because he had also served as President of the Republic.

One of the occasions I had treasured most was when, some two winters ago, we had both been invited by the Portuguese Ambassador for a small private dinner on an ice cold wintry Sunday evening in honour of Mario Soares, the former President of Portugal whom I vividly recall at the helm of the Socialist International movement.

In our frank and open discussion, I could easily tell that, whether he is addressing a large crowd, a smaller gathering or even an intimate dinner party, Prof. de Marco remained unchanged and unfazed.

For him, addressing a country’s President, a retired politician or a helper or driver was the same. He gave them all his maximum attention and made them all feel the most important persons in the world as he addressed them directly with his characteristic frankness and directness.

Some time back, before his ministerial days, coincidence so had it that we shared the same type of car, a Honda Quintet. On one occasion, an aide of mine tried to open his car by mistake. Prof. de Marco had jokingly told me: How do you expect me to drive back home if you are going to take my car away? I replied, with tongue in cheek, that we could always offer him a lift back home! This remained a standing joke between us for quite some time.

During his terms of office he handled various portfolios but one could easily tell that foreign and European affairs were his forte as they offered an excellent opportunity for subtlety, diplomacy, style and the fine art of negotiation.

Gruffness and uncouth language and approaches were never part of his lexicon.

Prof. de Marco might have never studied psychology the same way that he mastered law but his brain excelled in that crucial interplay between emotion and reason that not only impressed people, whether they were his personal voters or not, he also energised them.

He will best be remembered not only for what he gave the country and the party he belonged to but also for his deep and unbending commitment to what he firmly believed in.