Dom Mintoff has always been immersed in controversy and this holds true even after his death. A private initiative to set up the Fundazzjoni Duminku Mintoff just days after his demise has run into trouble with both his family and the party he once led.
Labour leader Joseph Muscat has tasked one of his two deputies, Toni Abela, to head a committee overseeing the organisation of activities, publications and a monument dedicated to Mr Mintoff.
Ever since he took over the party helm from Alfred Sant – whose government had been toppled by Mr Mintoff, with a little help from the Nationalist opposition, only after 22 months in office in 1998 – Dr Muscat went out of his way to build bridges with the Mintoffian faction within his party.
Mr Mintoff had practically been isolated by the party after the 1998 dispute with Dr Sant. So, it was both a redeeming and triumphant moment when Dr Muscat formally welcomed Mr Mintoff for the first time to the party headquarters in Ħamrun in late 2009.
Dr Muscat had immediately declared on taking office he wanted to attract back all those who had distanced themselves from Labour for one reason or another. In Mr Mintoff’s case, at least, he must have realised he was walking a tightrope and was careful not to bring memories of the past too much to the fore. He knew there were many instances of Labour under Mr Mintoff that paid to be forgotten for the sake of the party and its chances of returning to power.
Yet, Dr Muscat seems to have thrown caution to the wind when Mr Mintoff’s death was announced and in the days that followed.
It was to be expected that Labour would give tribute to the man who had led the party for 35 years. But given the baggage, especially the many instances of human rights violation, political thuggery, playing Russian roulette with the rule of law and democracy, which led the country to the verge of a civil war, did the Labour Party need to go so far in its eulogies?
Was it necessary, for example, for Dr Muscat to kiss Mr Mintoff’s coffin when the cortege stopped briefly in front of the party headquarters two days before the state funeral? Dr Muscat constantly underlines the importance of national unity but openly embracing someone who is possibly the most politically-divisive figure in Maltese history somewhat shows political naivety. Or maybe he failed to realise the political impact that kiss had on those Nationalists who suffered so much under Mintoff, and who might actually be thinking of voting Labour.
Though they would not admit it, hardline Nationalists heaved a sigh of relief when Alfred Sant cut the umbilical cord of any violent person associated with the Mintoff era. Can they say the same about the Muscat era when well-known notorious figures from the 1980s rubbed shoulders with Labour candidates during Mintoff’s funeral cortege?
No doubt, many floating voters, including traditional Nationalists have had enough of the present Administration.
Arguing that Malta has changed for the better, mainly thanks to the Nationalist governments since 1987, they may toy with the idea of ‘trying out’ Labour. But the return of the Mintoff spectre may be changing all that.
Most of the Mintoffians within the party had decided that Dr Muscat had “redeemed” himself in relation to their idol. He did not need to go beyond.