Malta yesterday fittingly accorded a state funeral to its fourth President, Ċensu Tabone, who died on Wednesday, two weeks short of his 99th birthday.
One can indeed define Dr Tabone as a totally dedicated man: guided by his strong Catholic faith, he was totally dedicated to his wife of 70 years and their numerous family; to his medical profession; to politics – understood as service – and to his wider family, the people of these islands, without distinction.
Former President Eddie Fenech Adami, who was close to Dr Tabone for so many years, aptly described him as a man of many parts, but above all as an outstanding family man, a shining example of a good husband and paterfamilias.
Dr Tabone saw military service as a regimental medical officer during the Second World War, experiencing a narrow escape when a bomb fell on the Fort St Elmo barracks in which he was posted.
Specialising as an ophthalmologist after the war, Dr Tabone was entrusted with supervising a campaign to eradicate trachoma from Gozo, which was so successful that it led the World Health Organisation to entrust him with similar campaigns in Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia.
His love for the profession led him to found the Medical Association of Malta in 1954, a trade union experience which came in useful when, in 1966, elected to Parliament for the first time, he was appointed Minister of Labour and Social Services in George Borg Olivier’s Nationalist administration.
His tenure was marked with an impressive decline in unemployment – despite a major British Services rundown – and a virtual end to emigration, which had been a staple of Maltese life for so many decades.
Dr Tabone was also responsible for introducing industrial relations legislation, the right of employees not to be dismissed without just cause, measures favouring the employment of disabled people, and increased social assistance for the blind and other disabled.
The Nationalist Party’s 16 years in opposition after 1971 brought out Dr Tabone’s resilience, courage in the face of political violence, and determination to stand up against what he, and the party of which he was deputy leader, perceived to be a constant erosion of democracy and dangerous adventures in foreign policy. Yet he never incited hatred and violence.
Dr Tabone was a protagonist in the protracted inter-party talks which began some time after the political crisis created by the perverse outcome of the 1981 election and resolved only on the eve of the 1987 election.
When the Nationalists were returned to power in that election, Dr Tabone as Foreign Minister did much to regain international credibility for Malta, took a number of initiatives at the United Nations, and prepared the way for the island’s application to join the European Union.
After more than two years of the ‘acting’ presidency of Paul Xuereb, a former Labour minister, in 1989 Dr Tabone was fittingly elected President. The Labour Party, then led by Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, not only opposed his nomination, but also decided to boycott him socially on the most specious grounds.
Thankfully, Alfred Sant, who became opposition leader in 1992, called off the boycott and went on to become a regular guest of the President’s at San Anton Palace.
Indeed, thanks to his charisma and common touch, Dr Tabone helped defuse the political tension which had gripped the island for so long. Not surprisingly, his Presidency coincided with a return to normality in Malta’s political life.
For his lifelong service to the nation, for his outstanding qualities as a family man, a medical man, a politician and President, Malta is forever grateful to Ċensu Tabone.