A politician with a mission

The news of the passing of President Emeritus, former Deputy Prime Minister and former Deputy Leader of the Nationalist Party Guido de Marco shocked the entire nation and immediately spurred a huge wave of support and condolences from all quarters. Prof. de Marco served his country well and was one of the main protagonists in shaping its political history.

He showed a keen interest in politics since his early adulthood. He exhibited his own personal political sphere, as described in Democrazia Cristiana by Alcide de Gasperi: “un partito di centro che guarda la sinistra” — a party of the centre that eyes the left. Economic development is important but this should be coupled with sensibility and social justice. While in university life, Prof. de Marco wrote that “unless there is a true sense of social justice, there is no purpose to serve in politics”.

He wrote of the humiliation he felt on seeing Maltese compatriots waving the Union Jack at Dom Mintoff’s meetings. He was perplexed and could not understand how Mr Mintoff, whom he considered to be in reality a nationalist at heart, supported Malta’s integration with Britain. Ironically, this at a time when other colonies where obtaining their independence!

Sure enough, Prof. de Marco said “never have I lived such happiness” as when Malta finally gained its Independence on September 21, 1964, not even on Malta’s accession to the European Union, an achievement for which he fought tooth and nail. The night of September 20-21 was after all the moment when Malta’s future was in its entirety in the hands of the Maltese.

In his early years as a parliamentarian, Prof. de Marco attended the 13th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Uganda where he stated that solutions to world conflicts are achieved not through “one man one gun, but one man one book”. He strongly believed that education and persuasion were key to conflict resolution, as opposed to aggression and dissension. As for the educational perspective, he claimed to have suggested, within Nationalist Party circles, that tertiary education should be free for all.

He also advocated the use of passive resistance to the outcome of the perverse election result of 1981 when the Nationalist Party obtained the majority of votes but a minority of seats. He must also be remembered for the mediation and negotiation talks he conducted with former Prime Minister Mintoff in the wake of this constitutional deadlock, which constitutional amendments ensured that the party obtaining the majority, likewise obtaining the right to govern.

The respect for his adversaries could also be seen in his identification of “commendable improvements” made by the Labour Party. But likewise, he criticised when it was due, such as when Independence Day celebrators where beaten up by then Malta Labour Party supporters, in unison with the police force...or when the Independence Day was removed from the list of public holidays.

In reality, Independence Day, as George Borg Oliver once stated at a political rally, had been won for everyone and for all times, be it Nationalists, Labourites or other. In truth, this applies to all our national days. Certainly, his role in reactivating Malta’s membership application to the European Union with its “switch-on, switch-off” story, and the presidencies he occupied, both of the United Nations General Assembly and that of the Republic of Malta, are more of his commonly known achievements.

Even if Prof. de Marco is not with us anymore today, his book The Politics of Persuasion remains nonetheless a living document, one well crafted and personally carved which, in spite of its political content, is enclosed by a human element.

President Emeritus Guido de Marco opens his autobiography by referring to a visit he had paid to Former Prime Minister and Leader of the Nationalist Party, Nerik Mizzi, who once told young Guido that “law is a profession, priesthood is a vocation but politics is a mission”.

President Emeritus Guido de Marco lived this mission with a deep sense of loyalty and service, but above all, through the politics of persuasion.

Malta mourns his loss but rejoices that it was blessed with Guido.

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