Former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami had offered former Labour Finance Minister Lino Spiteri a place on the European Court of Auditors, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil revealed yesterday.

Dr Busuttil was speaking in Parliament when the House was paying tribute to the late Mr Spiteri, who passed away on Friday. He said Mr Spiteri had turned down the offer.

Mr Spiteri served in Parliament as an MP for 21 years, six of them as minister.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat described how Mr Spiteri had always told him the truth, voicing what other people might not have had the courage to tell him. Muscat said he used to seek out his advice, even on things they did not agree on.

Mr Spiteri was one of those people who was extremely important to the Labour group because he did something which was difficult for those times: he combined the understanding of the business world and social democratic principles. These were two schools of thought which were often thought to be contradictory.

Mr Spiteri was in the thick of the political battle and still managed to be an advocate of what made sense for business because he knew this translated into better employment conditions for workers and their families. Yet, he did this without betraying the tenets of social democracy.

He would be especially remembered for the compromise and agreement through consensus in the financial services sector.

It was difficult to reach consensus when one was not in power, but he managed to do it with the finance minister of the time, John Dalli.

This consensus helped create one of the best tools Malta had in this crucial sector of the economy. In fact, many found it hard to believe that there was not one vote against any law which had to do with financial services. This was a victory for Malta’s economic leadership and Mr Spiteri was its architect.

Dr Muscat recalled that Mr Spiteri used to advise him not to tie his whole life to politics, because otherwise when it was over, he would be left with a void.

Mr Spiteri left the House in 1989 but remained active and became even more relevant to the political scene. He was freer in his thinking and this led to a great respect for him by both parties, which continued to grow.

It was ironic that Mr Spiteri’s funeral took place on Budget day when people would look forward to hearing his economic analysis.

Mr Spiteri had suffered personally even on his happiest day, his wedding day, but he came to terms with this and did not remain bitter.

He spoke about it calmly as a historical fact. This was something which moulded him to be what he became.

The financial services law was a victory for Malta’s economic leadership and Lino Spiteri was its architect

Dr Muscat said it was best to remember him as he had been in his later years, respected by the whole political spectrum, irrespective of belief.

Dr Busuttil said when one thought of Mr Spiteri one thought of diversity: he was a man of many traits and many roles.

As a political journalist and commentator especially in The Sunday Times of Malta, Mr Spiteri’s opinions had always created interest on both sides of the political divide.

He contributed to Malta’s culture and literary wealth through his works of fiction. He had recognised how to make his disability invisible, because he overcame it and broke down the barriers of society to stand proud. He would also be remembered as an economist who contributed to the financial sector.

A formidable adversary, he always acted correctly and never stooped to personal insults. As an MP he tied his name to the concept of fiscal morality. As a minister of finance in two administrations, he put forward two budgets. Albeit 14 years apart, but he had managed to make a dramatic economic transformation between one which had state control to a more liberal, open approach, more suited to those times.

Mr Spiteri was also the minister who resigned. One had to salute the courage of a person who had faced such a situation and left, not because of any scandal but because of something he had believed in.

Mr Spiteri had a great role in Malta becoming an EU member, and it was no wonder that Dr Fenech Adami, in recognition, had offered him the post in the EU Court of Auditors.

Mr Speaker Anġlu Farrugia spoke of his own personal experiences with Mr Spiteri, saying he greatly admired the way he had challenged MPs to tell the truth by means of a sworn affidavit.