Dom Mintoff had no separate manifesto

Herman Schiavone revisits an old chestnut (July 26). He claims that in the run-up to the 1996 election, Dom Mintoff, then a Labour candidate, issued his own personal manifesto. He therefore gives readers the impression that Mr Mintoff ran on a manifesto separate from that of the party.

This is an absolute falsehood. Mr Mintoff did nothing of the sort and I dare Mr Schiavone to produce a copy of the manifesto Mr Mintoff is said to have had. If it exists it should be fairly easy for Mr Schiavone to provide readers with a copy.

In truth, Mr Mintoff’s manifesto exists only in Mr Schiavone’s mind. I was personally involved in the eventual decision for Mr Mintoff to contest that election. He made neither conditions nor did he seek to distance himself from the official manifesto published by the Malta Labour Party, then headed by Alfred Sant.

Needless to say, at no time did Mr Mintoff seek treatment that was preferential in relation to other candidates. The party, however, found no objection to him or anyone else staging his own corner meetings. I have already, in the edition of August 16, 2010, denied a similar claim made by a fellow Nationalist Party propaganda doctor, Salvu Felice Pace, who eventually accepted my version of events.

It seems to me that the PN is these days so short of valid gun fodder that it keeps scratching the bottom of the barrel in search of old myths.

I trust Mr Schiavone is man enough to inform readers that what he claimed to be fact was nothing but worn-out fiction.