Kurt Sansone
The black and white world of Dom Mintoff
The complexities of former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff’s character will make it to the cinema screen next month. Kurt Sansone sits with filmmaker Pierre Ellul for a preview of the documentary.
Sociologist Mark-Anthony Falzon recently wrote in his column in The Sunday Times that former Labour Prime Minister Dom Mintoff was “loved and despised in equal measure”.
It was an obvious but accurate characterisation of a man who dominated Maltese politics for more than half a century, shaping the lives of many people in good and bad ways.
Many people have a story to tell about their encounter with Mr Mintoff, an incident to recount or a memory to recall; but the image il-Perit, as he is known, conjures is a contradictory ensemble of adulation and hate.
“Every devotional shrine had its obverse, every ‘Ma Tagħmlu Xejn’ song its irreverent counterpart, usually some vulgar ditty,” Prof. Falzon wrote.
Elderly people in Mr Mintoff’s hometown of Cospicua, who witnessed his rise from a poor boy like them playing in the slums to becoming a dominant political leader, even coined the term Socialist Mintoffian to describe their political beliefs.
But this cult status is despised by many others, who see in Mr Mintoff the makings of a despot, getting his way no matter what, and ready to pick a fight almost at any cost.
In this black-and-white picture aptly described by University lecturer Oliver Friggieri last month as the “entrenched feeling of duality” so characteristic of the Maltese psyche, another man has stepped forward to tell Mr Mintoff’s story.
Filmmaker Pierre Ellul, 38, has just completed a 67-minute-long documentary on Mr Mintoff that will soon be shown on the big screen. In his own words, Mr Ellul hopes “to shorten the distance between the extremes” that characterise any debate about Mr Mintoff.
“What I hope to achieve is for people to stop to think and maybe look at him from a different place from where they usually stand,” Mr Ellul says of his venture that has been six years in the making.
The documentary, Dear Dom, takes the shape of a letter addressed to Mr Mintoff.
It tellingly starts with a telex Mr Mintoff, who was then deputy prime minister, wrote from London to Labour Prime Minister Paul Boffa to inform him that he disagreed with the way negotiations with Britain on the Marshall Aid programme were being handled.
The message was to mark the beginning of the saga that saw Mr Mintoff resign his deputy prime ministerial post and eventually oust Sir Paul from leader of the Labour Party in 1949.
Mr Ellul admits the documentary, which covers Mr Mintoff’s political career and persona, is not a comprehensive view of the man. “For that you’d probably need a TV series of some 12 hours if not more to cover the complexities of the man.”
Despite being a product of the politically turbulent 1980s, remembering the latter part of Mr Mintoff’s career, Mr Ellul has transcended the barriers that sharply divide the political persona in two distinct and radically opposing blocs.
“I look at the effect Dom Mintoff had on Malta and the Maltese people and how he shaped the country,” he says.
The story is told by ordinary people whose paths crossed Mr Mintoff’s, or who lived the significant battles he fronted as leader of the Labour Party against the Church and the professional classes.
The spark that led to the documentary ignited six years ago was an article (see left) on Mr Mintoff written by Steve Mallia in The Times to coincide with the former prime minister’s 90th birthday.
Mr Ellul says he was fascinated by reactions the piece – which contained the personal reflections of a journalist who had got to know Mr Mintoff – had elicited.
“It was 2006 and the man still stirred so much emotion in people, negative and positive,” he adds. The seeds of the documentary were sown and a six-year journey, not shorn of difficulties, started.
Mr Ellul pauses when asked how, as a filmmaker, he views Mr Mintoff. It is a significant pause, probably breathing space many others would require before describing the Mintoff they know.
“It’s like opening Pandora’s Box,” he says, noting that the documentary focuses on particular stories that reflect the man and the way he operated.
The documentary, produced by Falkun Films, will be released in cinemas in March and promises to be a rollercoaster of emotions.
It portrays, possibly for the first time on one reel, the Mintoff people know and the Mintoff they choose to ignore, whether the glasses they wear are tinted red or blue.
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mark borg
Feb 13th, 21:16
DOM THE GREAT !
DOM MINTOFF....WHAT A CULT !
mark borg
Feb 13th, 21:02
@cecil herbert Jones
Shut UP HERBERT and rather than analysing my spelling mistakes, take a look around you and see what kind of a joke you are.
What do you think you are you and your stupid K.U.L Europa of a party are? Just the laughing stock of Malta when elections are around...in every place and corner people make fun of you if you are not aware!
I suggest firstly you get a decent haircut as you look like some kind of dirty hippie, get a life and kneel every night to thank god for The great Dom Mintoff ......
John Scerri
Feb 13th, 10:10
Mr. Mintoff was the man of his time and Malta needed Mintoff during that time....He made a lot of good ...he is human ...he made mistakes as well .after all who is perfect.
No one is perfect...but who stands in pause mode...gallarija ...criticising and doing nothing, proposing nothing will never do mistakes and that is unfortunately what the MLP are today ....opportunistic with no original agenda . MLP should give proof it will be the alternative to this govt ....it is still behind ....it is only gathering protest votes for convenience ....convenjenza mhux convinzjoni .
MINTOFF was a real leader..... A carismatic leader ....love him or hate him ...these are the facts ...he drew crowds .
He was USED by MLP to gather votes for the 1996 Labour win ...He was then trashed ...he was called a traitor by his own party .....his pictures were removed ...
Joseph Muscat did his best to make peace with this man who dedicated his life in the best way he knew ...in the interest of the maltese nation.
MLP ...NEVER made a formal apology to Mr. Mintoff...NEVER .
Mintoff deserved better from the party he had created .....
George Azzopardi
Feb 13th, 13:09
We agree a lot here ... only yu need to mention both side of the coins ...
quote ..MLP should give proof it will be the alternative to this govt .. unquote
PL is practically leading a lot of things from opposition ... this has nebver happened even in Mintoff's time in opposition. EFA never gave any concrete proof in opposition in fact .. he once stated on TV when asked from where he would get the money .. vote for me and then you'll see. Everyone knows that EFA's first five years were among the best and can be compared to Mintoff's first five years back in 70's as regards success.
quote ..
He was USED by MLP to gather votes for the 1996 Labour win ...He was then trashed ...he was called a traitor by his own party .....his pictures were removed ... unquote
This exactly what PN is doing to F.Debono if not even worse. Why even TVM was used to ridicule Dr.Debono regarding his school certificates!!
Victor Vella
Feb 13th, 08:25
Mintoff jibqa` mfakkar li kien politikant genwin ghax meta l-poplu qallu biex jintaghfas ic-cinturin ma qadx jilghba tal-kodart. Bena u ghamel Malta mix-xejn f`ghoxrin sena u GonziPN kissiru kollhox fi tlett snin. Illum il-poplu Malti m`ghandux haqq biex jiehu tazza te. Mintoff bena strutturi u sistemi u stratagija ta` beneficci socjali li baqghu jitjiebu taht EFA. Mintoff biss ma gharafx irrazzan klikka ta` nies kriminali li fid-deher ghamlet omagg hazin fuq il-partit Laburista. Dan kompla jizdied bl-ghazla hazina ta` KMB bhala mexxej. Dawn kollha zbalji li jaghmlu nies kbar bhal Mintoff. In-nazzjonalisti ghatxana ghal poter hadu opportunita tad-deheb minn din is-sitwazzjoni u ghamlu kapital billi iktar tefghu hatab fin-nar biex jaghmlu Kastilja iktar qrib taghhom. Sahansitra nqdew minn mewt ta` bniedem innocent li sall-llum ghadu misterju ta` kif inqatel..Illum ukoll ghadna klikka ta` nies bla ruh li qed toppera minn gewwa fejn hadd ma tarhom. Klikka ta` nies li qed tipprova taghmel manipulazzjoni ta` l-imhuh debboli tal-poplu Malti. Klikka ta` nies potenti ta` businessmen li bniet imperu bil-flus il-poplu Malti li gawdew minn nefqa kapitali ta` progetti tal-gvern li qed jirritornaw lura flejjes kbar lill-partit Nazzjonalista biex ikompli jibni imperu ta gideb, qerq, neppotizzmu, kronizmu, inkompetenza u arroganza li qatt ma rajna bhala f`dawn l-ahhar snin taht l-idejn ta` destruzzjoni ta` Gonzi PN.
Paul Portelli
Feb 13th, 08:23
NIDDIKJARAWH MISSIER TAL-MALTIN U L-GHAWDXIN KOLLA U NGHAMLU IS-SITTA TA'AWISSU ILJUM NAZZIONALI.IKUN RIGAL XIERAQ GHAL MIN LILL POPLU REFGHU MIN XARU.GHAMLU KUMMENT MIN JAQBEL .
Joseph Agius
Feb 13th, 00:57
"Malta l-ewwel u qabel kollox" ............may all Maltese leaders embrace this motto
Tony Borg
Feb 14th, 19:56
Jew il "BUT" l-ewwel u qabel kollox.............
Charlie Mallia
Feb 12th, 22:37
The greatest ever politician our shores ever had, perfect he was not but he changed the Island and gave all a better future.
Grazzi Perit
Alfred Falzon
Feb 12th, 22:06
The PL must still feel at odds with itself for, to date, it has as yet to apologize for the defamatory speech made by Alfred Sant during a meeting held in Birgu for Party diehards.
It was here that he labelled Dom Mintoff, former Premier and MLP leader, a "traitor"", in a bid to discredit the Labour backbencher and make him resign his seat for daring to challenge his sell-out of Fort St. Angelo to the Knights of the Order of St John and the Cottonera Waterfront to an American firm for a pittance!
Indeed, it should have made an apology to Dom Mintoff for what he had to endure during the bullying days preceding the 1998 general elections following which the Labour Party under haughty and arrogant Sant suffered the most humiliating defeat ever!
Yet the present PL still looks adamant in keeping mum over Sant's rashness for its policy today is to run with the hare and hunt with the hound rather than ruffle a few feathers!
It will stick to the adage "...SILENCE IS GOLDEN" sweeping under the carpet the wrong done to its former leader Dom Mintoff rather than cut Alfred Sant down to size!
Pleasing God and the devil pays dividends, by the look of it, otherwise how could it ever steal the show and enjoy strutting like a peacock with various hues in the corridors of power?!
And to hell with outdated principles only meant for fools and idealists!
Showbusiness first and foremost!
Alfred A. Falzon
anthony bartolo
Feb 12th, 21:43
@WILLIE GRECH.
That is what Mintoff should be remembered for..................
You forgot ............ KORP TAL- PIJUNIRI,KORP TAX-XOGHOL,IZRA U RABBI,DIRHAJN IL-MALTIN,BAHHAR U SEWWI,KISSER U FARRAK..........
mark borg
Feb 13th, 22:33
....yes Anthony but only for some servants, that lost their servile mediocre job with the British colonists ! The rest will remember him for the person responsible for a comprehensive welfare states and the cult figure he is !
Pule' Carmel
Feb 12th, 21:10
I hate all the politicians who used to come and preach at the Vittoriosa and the Cospicua and the Cospicua squares. Most of them attended University including their brothers and sisters.
Would you believe it that when young ,while attended most of the plolitical meeting at Cottonera delivered bby the politicians who had a university education, I NEVER HEARD ANY OF THEM INFORMING ME, Carmel Pule' and youths of Cottonera,you can go to university like we did."
Incidentally none of the teachers ever informed us of this possibility. I do not blame the teachers for most of them never did go to University , but the most popular did and they kept this secret away form us. When I found out that I could go to University , well, I just did!! Cottonera Politicians including Mintoff, never informed us youths of all the possibilities that he himself had.
Joseph Calleja
Feb 12th, 20:26
@ Robert Pace so you say we were beggars and servants to the English empire thats what we were. And now we are beggars of the EU. Same difference or maybe you cannot see that, with your eyes wide shut., As you might know Malta cannot survive on its own and for a while during the Mintoff era many had the feeling that Gaddafi was going to be our liberator.... What a joke that would have been? By the way I am a liberal and I despise all governments that try to dupe the citizens into promising us the world and provide none. At least as far as I know the present government has not used physical force against those who do not agree with them.
Giovanni Rizzo
Feb 12th, 19:50
Prosit u grazzi Sur.Ellul.
VV Bartolo
Feb 12th, 18:14
insellimlek Perit!! ... veru li l-Perit kien idejh sodi ghaliex tella l-haddiem u l-fqir fl-istess klassi tas-sinjur f'dak li hu livell ta' edukazzjoni!!
minn qalbi GRAZZI PERIT talli waqqaft lil kbir milli jkompli jabbuza liz-zghir i.e. lil haddiem!!
Joseph Calleja
Feb 12th, 19:58
Tahseb li nista nirringrazja lil Perit talli hadilna dar li kient vojta u halla lil wahda min tal partit tidhol u toqghod fija minghajr permess taghna fin 1974? U biex taqat ghamilla il-renta ta 19 lira Maltin fis sena? Int forsi ghandek ghalfejn tirringrajjah min qalbek imma jien u hafna ohrajn li tilfu id-dar nahsbu salt iehor. L-ixkubetta fija il-grillu u kulhad jghamel kif jghaqbillu.
Michel Bencini
Feb 12th, 17:57
Mintoff was the son of British colonialism. You were either loyal to the imperial master or not. The British divided and ruled. You either loved the British or hated them. The educated and priviledged old classes tolerated the British becausee their might was unparalleled. Their only shield was the sense of belonging to Italian or European or Catholic values which went against the British grain. Mintoff was a product of the masses. His education made him rise above them. When Mintoff tasted the privilege and good life of power he vacillated between the concept of either beating or joining the colonial master. He chose the latter through the policy of integration. When it all failed miserably and he realized that the colonial master was not that unbeatable, the pendulum swung to the opposite direction and all of a sudden he became anti-British and a republican. It is very ironic that the very Mintoff, who was so anti colonial chose to behave very british and divide and rule his people like a British governor when he held absolute sway in the seventies. Thank God, Malta has outgrown the ravages of colonialism and its relics of the past, one of which was il-perit. You could take Mintoff out of the Union Jack but you could not take the Union Jack out of Mintoff.
Joseph Calleja
Feb 12th, 20:09
Mintoff was very educated for the times and he took full advantage of the gullibility of some of the Maltese people who were very submissive and very anxious to jump at his command. Sometimes ignorance is bliss and Dom Mintoff knew how to take full advantage of that. Same is happening with this PM, keep the people subdued and one can accomplish many things. Also, Mr Dom Mintoff was not shy about using muscle against those who opposed him. Ring a bell? Dom Mintoff was a dictator at best and history will prove that.
George mifsud
Feb 12th, 17:02
Hassra li spicca majjar TRADITUR.geom.
mark borg
Feb 13th, 20:45
Mghajjar traditur min ftit mijiet pero adurat sal lum min eluf ta eluf 30 sena wara li irezenja min Prim Ministru .....
Cecil Herbert Jones
Feb 13th, 23:02
U ghaliex irrezenja?
Joseph M. Saliba
Feb 12th, 17:01
I hope that this film is not a PN Production but I recommend that people of all political creed should watch the history of the Labour Movement in a few days time by Jackie Mercieca on One TV.
G Schembri
Feb 12th, 16:38
@Karl Consiglio
Today, 16:11
U xi darba naghmlu film ta Gonzi wkoll. - Gonzi is not great enough he is just a blown up balloon.
I would rather suggest Gwido Demarco now that was another great man.
Karl Consiglio
Feb 12th, 19:09
You only know what you got when its gone.
J. Debono
Feb 12th, 21:25
Jien haga naf.
Id-dinja ghaddejja min krizi ekonomika kbira
u Malta
ghandna rata ta qaghad verament baxxa
ekonomija tissahhah kull sena
turismu jizdied min sena ghal ohra
f'erba snin taxxi ma ghollewx anzi l-income tax ghollew ic-ceilings u l-ammont ta haddiema ma jhallsux taxxa zdiedu
ghandna fost l-ghola rata ta karozzi fl-Ewropa kull persuna
biex tmur tiekol go restaurant trid tibbukkja nkella ma ssibx post
kulhadd bil-mobile u hawn hafna ghandhom tnejn
nies bla saqaf tista tghid ma jezistux
kull ma rridu nistghu nixtruh
inti taf x'int tghid ghid? tghid mhux Mintoff tahomna dawn l-affarijiet - mela nsejt biex tixtri karozza bil-kwota,
biex tixtri TV trid ixahham, biex tixtri cikkulata trid issiefer!!
Antoine Vella
Feb 12th, 22:21
G. Schembri, there have been more films and more books written about Hitler than Adenauer. Whom would you admire more?
Guido Demarco was reviled by Mintoffjani and, on at least one occasion, suffered serious head injuries when attacked by the marmalja.
mark borg
Feb 13th, 20:43
La Belva Umana kieku nsemmuh il-film ta Gonzi !
Karl Consiglio
Feb 12th, 16:11
U xi darba naghmlu film ta Gonzi wkoll.
mark borg
Feb 13th, 21:27
Dracula...is another option.
Jay Aquilina
Feb 12th, 16:08
il vera salvatur ta malta, the one and only. bniedem li vera habb lin nies il baxxi, in nies komuni, vera hadem biex jgholli il haddiem u ma jibqax baxx hdejn is sinjuri, ad multos annos perit
Joseph Calleja
Feb 12th, 17:30
Sometimes ignorance is bliss and Dom Mintoff took full advantage of that fact and used it to the hilt. Mintoff kien dittatur, dak veru kellu par idejn sodi ghax jekk mataqbilx mieghu kien jibghat il-bullies ghalik.
Angus Black
Feb 12th, 20:20
Mintoff was regarded as a pest by the Western world and that is why he chose to look at the Eastern bloc. He couldn't get to first base with the Western nations because he was a bully, played games which he consistently lost and was left with no alternative but to go begging at Communist governments' doors or make deals with the likes of Gaddafi or Kim Il Sung.He was an embarrassment.
The claim that he ended poverty is a myth. He just made it illegal to beg in the streets. Obviously to the simpletons it means that poverty disappeared. It just went underground and eventually became more and more sophisticated. Today we call begging, telethons, marathons, fund raising, l-Istrina and so on. What else can one call these fund raising extravaganzas? In each case it is begging the public for financial support, with one exception; giving beggars the odd penny or halfpenny would elicit a thank you from the beggar or nun, but today one will hardly be acknowledged if the donation is less than 5 euro!
The other claim is that he created the middle class! How so? By lowering the upper class standards? Certainly not by creating meaningful jobs paying 'middle class' wages. Were employees working in the textile industry regarded as the 'middle class'? Was the ruination of the education system a means of establishing the middle class?
The Labour supporters do not just need refresher courses, they need deprogramming.
Karl Consiglio
Feb 12th, 16:07
Was all downhill after what we saw in this trailer.
mark borg
Feb 13th, 20:52
Shut up, watch the film and learn something other than your hatred! and praise the lord for this great man that brought Malta out of the middle ages following the PN/Church Govt of the 60’s
George Debono
Feb 12th, 16:01
Mintoff will forever be remembered by my generation for having tried to destroy our future by destroying education, and all that was associated by it. The infamous 20 punt were only the culmination of his ongoing battle against the right to choose by parents of what education they wanted for their children. I remember the increasing strangling of church schools in the 80's well, and the thugs sent to beat up the Jesuits. I can see them still, in their Agrikultura trucks......and the efforts of Mifsud Tommasi to dissuade them. I was there. A youth in terror. I relive this scene every time i see his picture or hear his mention. He also destroyed many people. many businesses and broke many futures......many people went to an early grave "bl-inkwiet". I remember particularly a dispossessed family in Birzebbugia who used to work the fields in what is now the Freeport. He destroyed them utterly with no compensation. One went mad. another died prematurely. I cannnot find any sympathy with the man. I hope the film tells that Mintoff was a man who justified the end by any means. he was a democratically elected dictator.
Willie Grech
Feb 12th, 16:44
@ George Debono.
The B'Bugia incident, which you seem to know too well is blindfolding you into admiring the greatest Statesman Malta ever had! The other incidents that you mentioned happened also during other PMs and political parties tenure in government. Remember EFA asking where were the labourites? Remember that the same person was found guilty of political discrimination by our courts?
"many people went to an early grave "bl-inkwiet". What about this statement? At least, were they buried in their own grave or in the 'mizbla' like the labourites in the 60s?
Whether you admit it or not, Dom Mintoff will be remembered as the person who engineered Malta as a Republic built on work, inventing a fantastic infrastructure, economy and stability with the making of Airmalta, Enemalta, Telemalta and the building of many housing estates, giving bonuses, children's allowances, pensions, minimum wages, etc to the workers without them having to emigrate to a foreign country.
That is what Mintoff should be remembered for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Victor Laiviera
Feb 12th, 18:43
The usual litany of exaggerations, half truths and outright lies, propagated by the PN characters assassination spin-machine and their allies.
Some people swallowed them whole, hook, line and sinker. Talk about brainwashing!
George Debono
Feb 13th, 06:24
I'm so sorry....I shoul dbe admiring Mintoff "achievements". They were our right, not a handout! AS FOR THE HOUSING ESTATES, HE ROBBED THE LANDOWNER FROM HIS LAND TO CONTRUCT THESE HOUSING ESTATES. Borg Olivier was on the right track in 71, and Mintoff built on what was already planned. The End Does NOt Justify The Means. History will say that Mintoff rode roughshod over people and their rights. He also kept the people you so admire in ignorance and attacked education. Education was Mintoff's enemy. He knew it. And its education that made us finally realise what a mess he led Malta into.
Frank Zammit
Apr 2nd, 21:49
I don't know from which century or year you come but my heart bleeds for you. It is obvious that you think that the civilized world was born on the same day you were born.
It is obvious that, since you are contributing here, you have had an education and therefore have the ability to read history.
I suggest you start off by reading the history of Malta. Go back a few years from the day you were born and you will learn that you had an education because the person you hate with all your good hart had the courage to make sure that you will have an education.
It is no use to claim you can see everything by wearing a blindfold.
Albert Zammit
Feb 12th, 15:52
Dear director,
Make sure that you include the 'true blue' perit. Bring out the best of him.
He must be represented as the best political figure that we've had.
Show him from the sociological point of view.
I'm looking forward to see the documentary.
Ghalissa Prosit,
Joseph Calleja
Feb 12th, 15:46
Dom Mintoff a patriot? Only to those who backed him up and agreed with his ideologies. Mintoff led with an iron fist and watch out if you did not agree, because the Party bullies would show up and take care of business. These thugs went as far as entering homes of the anti Mintoff regime and terrorize the families. And if you have more doubts, take the time to read up on the damage they did to the Times of Malta building. I have a friend that worked in that building when all this vandalism and terrorizing occurred fifty years ago and he is still suffering from a nervous breakdown caused by these MLP thugs. He also authorized squatters to take over empty properties and live in them like they were their own, Dom Mintoff knows because his family had one of those requisitioned houses which they got back recently.
R. Gauci
Feb 12th, 15:38
Li ghamel Mintoff ma ghamlu hadd, jghidu xi jghidu l-Farizej. Hadd ma naf li bena nazzjon bix-xejn u meta nizel halla poplu sinjur bil-flus fil-kaxxa, kumpanijji jaghmlu qliegh, banek, investimenti, welfare state, edukazzjoni b'xejn, sahha b'xejn, drittijiet lil min ma kellux bhan,-nisa, zaghzagh, omosesswali, nehha l-piena kapitali, ahjar nieqaf hawn ghax sarli l-hin.
Paul Giordimaina
Feb 12th, 19:33
Tara blenti wahda ghamel ftit tajjeb u hafna hazin u mexxa il pajjiz bhal dittaur u holloq mibeda fost il Maltin.
Peter Galea
Feb 12th, 20:18
Int bis-serjeta sur Gauci qed titkellem?? l-istess l-universita illum u taht dom mintoff??? fi zmien Mintoff l-universita kienet tikkonsisti fi ftit studenti, li akkwistaw rigal ta 20 punt, u la stpendum, u nofs tuzzana corsijiet kollox. Mintoff kien jiddecidi kemm kien hemm bzonn periti jew tobba. Nahseb li int sur Gauci kont toqghod it-tarf l-iehor tad dinja dak iz-zminijiet
Martin vella
Feb 12th, 15:01
Hope this documentary will be unbiased.Very hard to find someone in Malta (anywhere for that matter) that does not take sides.
A Dimech
Feb 12th, 14:36
From a Nation at ground zero - without anything tangible apart from misery and distraction of war, Mintoff managed to build something, which today is the pride of the mediteranean.
He brought industry - SGS, Baxter, Medlect, Playmobile, he created the Freeport, Enemalta, BOV, SeaMalta, DryDocks, MidMed.... just to mention a few.
Yes he did have defects. But he balanced our foreign diplomacy, as he knew, to get the best out of both worlds - whether US, UK, Italy, Arab world or communists. He wanted to open the door to all of them, not a selected few.
It is true he did mistakes - namely he was not very eager to spend money and preferred to save. And he banned a lot of imports from reaching our shores. But he was a man who, as he saw fit, created this country from the ashes of misery, reformed social welfare and social justice, and told the church to stick to the spiritual realm as it should.
We are lucky that we has him, as we are lucky, I would say to a lesser extent, that we had EFA - who continued to build and modernise the country. Without these two characters we wouldn't have had our nation as we know it today.
Wenzu Vella
Feb 12th, 13:19
I am sure that this documentary will stir up the poison pens that were restricted in their corrupt ways. They will soon forget the benefits this great man did for Malta and the Maltese people. Benefits that are still being enjoying by everyone now.
Joseph Calleja
Feb 12th, 17:58
Wenzu Vella did Mintoff authorize the requisition of your empty house? Of course not or you would not be talking that way. Those squatters that took over our empty house are still living in our property that was requisitioned from us by the MLP in 1974, (37 years ago.) I have to admit that this government is still sanctioning that move because my family still cannot evict these people and we cannot get our property back till this one squatter and her heir daughter, that is living with her die. Talk about injustice sanctioned by both governments. The great Dom Mintoff is very familiar with such incidents because one of his family's properties was also requisitioned but they managed to get their property back with a bonus. Dom Mintoff might be a great man in your eyes but a dictator in mine. I never met Dom Mintoff and don't care to now, but up to this day I cannot tell my children that, that property, which he and his regime took away from us 37 years ago still does not belong to us. To be honest I also condemn the present government for sanctioning such an injustice. Why can't my family enjoy what my father worked so hard for? Politics and more politics.
Wenzu Vella
Feb 13th, 07:33
Dear Joseph, I am sorry that your property you mentioned is still under the same requisition order despite the PN has been in government for on 25 years. I hope you feel the same for GonziPN. Of-course that is up to you how you view this personal matter.
Well I have something to say about requisition of property. As a young man strait after WWII we moved from our private shelter into a house in Triq Santa Tereza Bormla this house happened to belong to Mr Mintoff’s parents which Mr Mintoff lived in this house too. This was a very nice and modern house for the time and area, but it was earmarked to be demolished for the realigning of the street by none other than Mr Mintoff himself as the then minister of works and reconstruction.
I am not aware of any compensation for this or the many hundreds of other properties in the Cottonera at the time which had to make way for the betterment of the area. We had the same rights to stay in that house for as long as it was necessary under the same rules and regulations as the tenants that are still occupying your property. The owners where restricted under the same housing regulation to put up the rent. Even then this house belonged to the parents of the great man. Incidentally we voluntarily moved out the Mintoff’s house which had to stay unoccupied till the day that was demolished at the loss of any income for his parents.
I am sure that this great man did a lot of good things that most Maltese benefited and are still benefitting from. But at the same time there are others who have missed out and perhaps are bitter about it. If one has to balance the good with the bad the GOOD will far outweigh the Bad.
Mr Kevin Zammit
Feb 12th, 13:12
1. A socialist state is one in which most essential services are provided through redistribution of tax money. Mainly health, education and work/life insurance. These were especially introduced and/or reinforced by Mintoff I dont see the nationalist party government reducing these any time soon so who is the socialist and who is the conservative on this Island then?
2. The Nationalist party derives its roots from gaining for Malta independence from our former colonial masters the English and instead putting us under our former cultural connection Italy. In itself not a bad thing. Mintoff was actually pro British. Since WWII made it politically incorrect to speak of Italy in any good terms back then the Nationalist party took on the natural path of creating a Malta of Church God and Country. Doubtful how much pride there is in the Semitic speaking populace but that is my personal opinion. Therefore considering that the church stands for equality for all humans, redistribution of wealth, helping the sick old and inferm ... again I ask. Who is the one that actually supports a socialist system of government?
3. Socialism actually aims at leveling the playing field giving all an opportunity to succeed materially should they wish to do so, irrespective of creed or political beliefs. These were ideals as set out by the Fabian society members being none other than the likes of including George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, Annie Besant, Graham Wallas, Hubert Bland, Edith Nesbit, Sydney Olivier, Oliver Lodge, Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf, Ramsay MacDonald and Emmeline Pankhurst. E - wikipedia from which I quote:
They favoured a national minimum wage in order to stop British industries compensating for their inefficiency by lowering wages instead of investing in capital equipment; slum clearances and a health service in order for "the breeding of even a moderately Imperial race" which would be more productive and better militarily than the "stunted, anaemic, demoralised denizens...of our great cities"; and a national education system because "it is in the classrooms...that the future battles of the Empire for commercial prosperity are already being lost"
I leave the rest for you to ponder then whether Mintoff educated in the UK at a top British university did what he truly thought was best for Malta or not.
Charles Micallef
Feb 12th, 12:19
Dom Mintoff was and is still is a fighter in very sense of the word, he fought for his country for 50 years and is now fighting for his life at the ripe old age of 95! history will be the only thing if he was a patriot or not!
Cecil Herbert Jones
Feb 12th, 11:47
Maybe not exactly the Benito Mussolini of the 70s, but one would hope to know or hide the fact that the dramatic highlight of Mintoff's career, the pinnacle, the most poignant factor yet to be seen on screen lies in his fight and flight from Western community, aside from the Catholic Church, to align Malta with its more Arabian semitic roots. In no less dramatic terms he, as leader of the Maltese nation, crossed the line in the sand of the Cold War, serving Gaddafi a political orgasm!
Foreign Policy was a sham we will have to live down for a very very long time. Our 'green' passports read from back to front with the Maltese language first, Arabic second and English third, and was disseminated by default through every airport, seaport, and train station around the world that was visited by any one Maltese traveller.
Mintoff's intentions were otherwise, one would still hope. Pity madmen don't keep diaries. They would make an interesting study, if only in a bid to find out where we went wrong.....and right?
He ignited the hearts of the Maltese with a hope that did, however, seem to have some positive effects on us. It can be described in a nutshell by one word 'Integration'. Of course Mintoff failed to achieve it with England but succeeded with Libya.
Dear Dom were you really a victim of manipulation, and is it possible you were too scared to tell us?
Victor Laiviera
Feb 12th, 12:15
What a load of utter tripe! You have obviously swallowed ever myth, half truth and outright lie put out by the PN over the decades.
I hope this film is not more of the same - because it will only be good for a laugh.
Antoine Vella
Feb 12th, 12:25
Laiviera, I don't think you will laugh when (if) you see the film. Gnashing of teeth is more likely to be the reaction because truth hurts.
Franco Farrugia
Feb 12th, 12:27
'because it will only be good for a laugh.'
At least that would make a change ... from those difficult years. The least said, the better, don't you think?
Carmel Bugeja
Feb 12th, 13:25
dom mintoff is rememberd for most of his successful budgets. it was a news for his adverseries when he presented a budget with a deficit, unlike all PN administrations who in 25 years presented 25 deficit
.
budgets, crisis or not.
Mr Mike Rotch
Feb 12th, 13:54
Please do not comment until you have seen this clip...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYogRxsc8Pk
Angus Black
Feb 12th, 13:59
@ Victor Laiviera
You accuse others of 'swallowing myths', but you are still chewing on the tripe which was Mintoff's daily fare and still trying to swallow it, digest it, and hopefully suffer the consequences!
You are even hoping that this film will not portray Mintoff as he should be, with much resentment, otherwise 'it will only be good for a laugh'. Funny, that for the rest of us, if he is not shown as a two bit despot that he was, then we will not laugh but rather cry because the truth would have been twisted one more time.
George Azzopardi
Feb 12th, 13:59
I pity people like Herbert who chose to view Mr.Mintoff from the blue hard lined PN accute angle and is not a gentleman enough to admit the loads of good factor which totally overrides the bad side and makes this so insignificant.
Herbert, we should bow to people like Mr.Mintoff and also Edward Fenech Adami who were the most significant persons who practically shaped the way we live today. If I know you right, Mr. Jones you are practically my age but maybe we were living in different islands when the Dom practically created the middle class people in Malta. You don't seem to remember when most people did even not know what a bathtub or toilet flushing looked like. When minimum wage did not exist, when social services did not exist, when being gay was against the law, when you could see people finishing from work with old age going to City Gate and Dockyard doors begging for money since pensions did not exist!! Etc etc for a million times!!
... and Herbert please don't mention just Libya. Why do you PN blue eyed boys never learn that your dear Gonzi was the last PM hugging Gaddafi and practically licking his butt!! You don't for eample mention China, which also fails to have such high human rights and we all know that democracy is non-existing there. Why fail to compare China with Libya and not critisize China the way you are now critising Libya's ventures!!! No you don't critisize China because we all still need to be friendly with the communist Chinese government NOW and TILL NOW!!! PN Hypocrytes!!!
Willie Grech
Feb 12th, 14:01
@ Cecil Herbert Jones.
"He ignited the hearts of the Maltese with a hope that did, however, seem to have some positive effects on us."
Seem to have some positive effects on us? Do you remember, or rather do you want to remember Malta back in the 60s where our parents used to go on the streets begging for their daily bread after they retired from work? Do you remember labour supporters being buried in the 'mizbla' just because they supported Mintoff? Do you remember the 70s when, out of nothing, a Mintoff led MLP in government set up AirMalta, EneMalta, TeleMalta, etc, etc.? Do you remember how much these rendered to the Maltese coffers? Do you care to remember the Housing Estates around Malta, the social services, the minimum wage, the bonuses, children's allowance, the minimum pension for all? And I could go on and on and on.
Do you care to remember these things at all? Of course, he ignited the hearts of ALL Maltese.......and how!!!!
MAY WE ALWAYS HAVE A DOM MINTOFF FOR EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cecil Herbert Jones
Feb 12th, 14:08
@ Victor Laiviera..
I have only stated facts, not a PN production. You may wish to challenge me on what I said, however I would not advise it.
As I said, 'He ignited the hearts of the Maltese with a hope that did, however, seem to have some positive effects on us. It can be described in a nutshell by one word 'Integration'.
Still I'm curious to know whether he was really a victim of manipulation?
Tony Busuttil
Feb 12th, 14:18
You still have hate for the man who uplifted the standard of the middle class and poor. He was the man who introduced free compalsary education, free medical car, social services, childreans allowance.He was the man to industrialised Malta, The Pn they were lucky finding this investment or family silver, they sold it all. He was the man to put Malta's interest first with the church and British Goverment. Both of them had to bow their heads to his demand. Yes the Pn or GONZIPN supporters hated Mintoff because their leaders did not have the guts as Dom,he did things the the elite class did not want , I still remember a director where I used to work telling me ,that it was shame for him , if he will be hospitalised sleeping next to a man from the south. What ever you all say altough he voted against his goverment Dom is still in the heart of most of the Maltese.
mark borg
Feb 12th, 14:25
As usual an analysis of a cooko Mr Herbert Jones !
Shut up herbert as you are not even one fingernail of the toe of this ledgent that abolished poverity from Malta !
A Bezzina
Feb 12th, 15:16
@ Victor Laiviera
Seems like you've been swallowing some too! The only difference is that you have evidently swallowed red ... deep red ...
Mr Michael Galea
Feb 12th, 15:20
It's amazing the hatred that people like you still find for this man! I wonder what would you have done in 1971 if you were in his shoes! Do you know what Malta was going through then? I don't think so !!! Do you know what the PN George Borg Olivier had left behind when Mintoff came to power in 1971? People leaving Malta in their thousands, No money to pay gov sectors, no minimum wage,Maltese had no right to go to certain places because of the British governor, no housing estates no major main roads,no working hour rights, almost No factories,It tallaba and more. We had an Independence that was for nothing because the Queen of England was still head of state! Also we do not need to remember the person before Borg Olivier, Nerik Mizzi that wanted the maltese language to be used only for the Kitchen so we can change our primary language to Italian(PN's newspapers of those days prove it!). Mintoff may have done mistakes like any other person but he did alot of good.Gaddafi's business with Malta was stricktly Business!(not like Gonzi watching the world cup with Gaddafi!!)
Joseph Calleja
Feb 12th, 16:07
Start laughing Mr Laiviera.
robert pace
Feb 12th, 16:25
What a pity that some maltese still have such impressions about a man who put Malta on the map.
We were beggers and servants to the English empire thats what we were, yes men to eveyone and everything. Mintoff gave us the dignity we deserved!! When you count the good he has done to this island we should definetly admire this man , rather than pin point the bad. Jobs he created for the thousands of workers be it airline, banks industry you name it and you choose it. Gay rights, womans rights, worker rights what else? The PN just triggered on petty matters like choclate and such rubbish. What is choclate nest to the choice of jobs may i ask??
Mintoff remains embedded in our hearts we remeber him well, what a contrast menetion today and youll be asking for an early retirement benefit from a company thats going down the gutters, next to the jobs and companies created in the seventies!!
Cecil Herbert Jones
Feb 12th, 18:45
@ George Azzopardi ... I'm not a blue-eyed boy, PN or otherwise. I'm an independent.
Yes I never mentioned China, which was considered in those days as one of the trio in the Cold War who was opposed to the West, simply because of its Communism I suppose. Perhaps I chose not to drag in this great nation because it's government was never involved in international terrorism?
As for bowing my head to this man, now thats different. I suppose lighting a candle would be in order too, right? @ Geriatrics... please note I am only humoring.
@ Willie Grech ... Do you care to remember that while he gave you the minimum wage he took the maximum wage (or was it a wage?) Yes I do remember the social initiatives undertaken by Mintoff, and I applaud his intentions, but condemn his agenda. All these initiatives served another purpose, to increase his hold on his Party and on Malta. I don't suppose you remember him saying, 'I built this Party and I will bring it down!'? As for all the social security deafening my eardrums, Mintoff was only implementing what most other Western countries put in motion before. What's the hoola about this? Even Mintoff couldn't get that one wrong.
@ Tony Busuttil... Gosh 'hate' is such a hate word I can't begin to find words. So I'll say something opposite, love. Yes Mintoff loved the British much more than any other politician because he obtained his education from Britain, and he also married into a British family. The PN don't feature anywhere close, in this regard, preferring their Italian influences instead. The intimacy with the British so desired by Mintoff was unequalled. Need I go on? And yes he did say a few resounding words that made a lot of sense. For example he disallowed freedom of speech, which judging by today's over-indulgence make a lot of sense now but not then.
@ mark borg ... cuckoo (not cooko) is a bird that wakes you from your dreams and nightmares. It might just be chosen as the symbol for the Whistleblower Act which is still on the back-burner.
"Shut up herbert as you are not even one fingernail of the toe of this ledgent that abolished poverity from Malta !" Sorry mate but seeing your English is sooo poor I can't see how this legend (not ledgent) who (not that) abolished poverty (not poverity) could boast of succeeding?
@ Mr Michael Galea ... "Gaddafi's business with Malta was stricktly Business!" And Mintoff's business with Libya was what, personal?" Mintoff had a lot of money those days coming from Libya, and it was relatively easy for him therefore to spar with the West, and to embed his influence on the Maltese, especially his supporters. I would have done the same, just that I would have done it differently thats all, very differently. You would've liked my way more. As for Gonzi, each to his own I suppose. However one must remember that Gonzi was/is the PM of a EU Member State, that is Malta. He can hardly afford to damage our reputation by ignoring the interests of the EU, which is where our money comes from mostly.
@ robert pace ... We were beggars and we still are. And we will continue to be unless I see my country heeding my advice of 2004 (EP Elections) and start initiatives that will improve the European Union, instead of nothing ! Sure during Mintoff there were Maltese beggars and he did take care of them, and so did Gaddafi take care of Libyan beggars. So whats your point? My point on this is that Mintoff took care of beggars by trying to bring down everyone else, except himself, same as Gaddafi. Instead he could have cultivated from a different seed, one which could have alleviated poverty not by bringing others down, but by raising the poor. Of course this was very difficult because he had alienated the very source of education that could've helped him and us a great deal. As the British say, 'You can't have the cake and eat it at the same time.' Mintoff thought he could do both til it dawned on him he could not. Crossing the line in the sand of the Cold War was not a joke then, and its not a joke now.
Cecil Herbert Jones - K.U.L. EWROPA (Koerenza, Unita', Liberta')
Carmelo Aquilina
Feb 12th, 11:26
it sounds like mature view of Mr Mintoff with all his contradictions, good and bad points. Well done to the film makers - we desperately need this sort of non-partisan review of major events in our history .
Michael Seychell
Feb 12th, 15:20
I do not know what kind of research - if any - has been done on Mintoff and the direct part he played to make the GWU and the Labour Party unite or rather fuse statutorily, as well as his insistence that Joe Attard Kingswell must be removed from General Secretary of the General Workers Union.
Michael Seychell Tal-Pieta
Ex Secretary Metal Section GWU.
J. Mifsud
Feb 12th, 21:40
@Micheal Seychell - You as an ex part of the GWU should know that the GWU produced many of the MLP members the GWU and the MLP were always united, they both had the interset of the workers at heart. People who left them only did so because they put personal interests before the interset of the workers they represented. Do you still wonder what made certain people leave the GWU?