Tonio Borg speaking at Guido de Marco’s memorial event yesterday. Photo: Jason Borg

Malta’s former President and deputy leader of the Nationalist Party, Guido de Marco, was yesterday commemorated in a memorial event organised by Ażad to mark the fourth anniversary of his death.

Recalling his personal encounters with Prof de Marco, European Commissioner Tonio Borg said he loved life and Malta to the full even though he joked about his notorious lack of punctuality.

“He was always late for his appointment because he loved life. He wanted to speak to everyone who greeted him and so he was always late...” Dr Borg said.

“He used to joke that after his death it would be appropriate to refer to him as the late Guido de Marco,” he told the audience, which included several close collaborators including former PN leaders Eddie Fenech Adami and Lawrence Gonzi and Opposition leader Simon Busuttil.

Dr Borg, his student in the law course during the 1970s who also ended up marrying his secretary, said Prof. de Marco, despite losing the PN’s leadership election in 1977, continued to dedicate his life to the party and was always loyal to his leader.

He used to joke that after his death it would be appropriate to refer to him as the late Guido de Marco

Judge Giovanni Bonello spoke of Prof. de Marco’s battles to uphold human rights in Malta.

He recounted his challenge in the Constitutional Court alongside Prof. de Marco just after the 1976 election, when the whole population of the government’s St Vincent de Paul old people’s home – a thousand eligible voters – mysteriously voted Labour.

The judges in the Constitutional Court were replaced within a few hours, during the actual hearing of the case.

“Since the new judges included the father and the brother of the government’s defence lawyers, we decided there was no point in hoping for a fair hearing and dropped the case,” he said.

Prof. de Marco’s son, PN deputy leader Mario de Marco, spoke of the sterling work his father did for his country.

Prof. de Marco served the country in some of its most important institutional offices.

After years in the Opposition as deputy leader, he was appointed deputy prime minister in 1987 until his appointment as the country’s sixth President in 1999.

In 1990, Prof. de Marco served as the 45th President of the General Assembly of the United Nations.