‘Finest witted’ ex-MP dies aged 80

One of “Malta’s quickest thinking politicians”, former Nationalist MP Mario Felice, died aged 80 in Arizona, the US, on Friday surrounded by his family.

“Dr Felice was the quickest thinking and had the finest wit of the politicians of my generation,” President Emeritus Ugo Mifsud Bonnici said yesterday.

Widely-respected for his knowledge of economic affairs, Dr Felice, a lawyer, successfully contested the general election on the Nationalist Party ticket in 1971 and was shadow Finance Minister until 1981.

An old friend and University colleague, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said Dr Felice was known for his intelligence. “He was famous for his turn of phrase and his repartee. It’s a pity that at some moment he lost patience with politics – he could have given more,” Dr Mifsud Bonnici said.

“He was a very dear friend and I have suffered a great loss,” he said.

Even former Speaker and Nationalist Minister Louis Galea remembered his wit.

“Mario was a colourful personality. I remember him when I contested the election in 1970. In Parliament, he was renowned for being an expert in the financial sector. He was never one to argue for argument’s sake but was very constructive in his debates, something even (Dom) Mintoff recognised,” Dr Galea recalled.

Describing him as a “first-class orator”, Dr Galea said: “He had a certain rapprochement about him but he was also capable of giving somebody a good lashing with his words.

“At one point, he was a star of the Nationalist Party but his individualistic traits meant he found it hard to belong to a group,” he said.

Dr Galea also remembered Dr Felice’s passion for Nato. In fact, he was president of the Malta branch, which led to a number of visits at the White House for meetings with senior US officials in 1969. He received an award by Nato in 1974 for promoting understanding of the Alliance.

“He used to speak fervently about Nato. He was a person of principle but who could be intransigent. However, once a decision was taken he was tremendously affable,” Dr Galea said.

Dr Felice became chairman of the Malta International Business Authority in 1989 and later chaired the Malta Financial Services Centre until 1995.

Apart from finances, he had a great love for Malta and the Maltese language as Pawlu Mizzi, a close friend and founder of Klabb Kotba Maltin, remembers.

“One of his last desires, in fact, was to visit ‘my’ Malta again. He was particularly fond of the Maltese language. In fact, out of his own pocket, he introduced it to the library of Congress in Washington,” Mr Mizzi said.

The news of Dr Felice’s death saddened him. “Malta lost a gentleman,” he said. Together they spoke of many things: family, Parliament and Dr Felice’s political career. “But finance was, perhaps, the work of his heart. He often confessed to me he was working on legislation to make Malta fit well into the financial world,” Mr Mizzi said. The PN and Labour Party expressed their condolences to Dr Felice’s family on their loss.