Glowing tributes flowed in the moment the death of Guido de Marco was announced last Thursday. There was no doubt that Prof. de Marco – a grade A student, a very successful criminal lawyer, a brilliant University professor, a top politician, a task-oriented Cabinet minister, an effective president of the United Nations general assembly and a much-loved President of the Republic, to mention just a few of the hats he wore with ease – had all those he worked with and for at heart. The sentiments expressed were shorn of rhetoric or mere duty to pay one’s respects to a departed person. Here was a genuine heartfelt salute by people from all walks of life to a person they admired, loved and have now lost.

Prof. de Marco’s earthly remains were laid to rest yesterday after a state funeral that, again, demonstrated the people’s feelings for this great man. Yet, this need not be the end of him. The qualities he possessed and constantly employed in his interaction with interlocutors, whoever they may be, and which won him the respect he enjoyed, must continue to live on in those occupying the positions he excelled in and carrying those duties Prof. de Marco so ably fulfilled.

There will be monuments and projects dedicated to his memory, all praiseworthy ventures. But what would really matter is that, like him, students make the best of their studies to be able to eventually stand on their own two feet and even go against the grain. That University professors, including those arriving late for their lectures, give their utmost to students, showing them they will have a purpose in life. That politicians and ministers practise politics of persuasion rather than impose their will. That Presidents constantly bear in mind they can best remain close to all the people by exercising extreme care in whatever issue they are handling and avoiding getting engulfed in unnecessary petty controversies.

Which is not to say that one should not stick to one’s principles and push for what one believes in. No doubt, Prof. de Marco had a mind of his own and was resolute in his actions. But he always respected “the other side”. As The Times noted in the leader on the day following his death, Prof. de Marco was a nationalist before being a Nationalist. His love of country came before anything else.

Prof. de Marco was a leading exponent in the fight for democracy and the upholding of human rights that were seriously threatened in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Nationalist Party spearheaded the battle but Prof. de Marco, together with other party officials, notably the leader, Eddie Fenech Adami, were careful to ensure that the people understood that their participation counted. Prof. de Marco went further, succeeding in taking this message to the most unlikely receptive elements within those mostly appearing to oppose the democratic developments this country needed at the time.

In a statement he made at the UN some 20 years ago, Prof. de Marco said that the dictum if you want peace prepare for war should be modified to read if you want peace, prepare for peace.

That message still holds true, for the world and for Malta. Let the politics of persuasion defeat the politics of division in all spheres of life. Thus, Prof. de Marco can live forever…

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