Former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami’s speeches during the turbulent 1980s showed an approach driven by values, according to an IT expert's analysis.

Gege Gatt, who worked on a new website that documents Dr Fenech Adami’s leadership during the political turmoil between 1981 and 1987, said the former premier’s speeches were markedly different from the ones given by today’s politicians.

His content analysis showed that they were deeply inspired by a Christian Democrat ethos and demonstrated an approach rooted in values.

“I found that to be quite astounding, because I would assume that if someone had to do content analysis on today’s political speeches, that would be less evident,” Dr Gatt said.

The website is built on a responsive framework catering for any type and size of device. It boasts a never-previously-published gallery of unique images and 15 mass meeting videos spanning the period 1986-1987. All mass meetings are transcribed and annotated with historical notes and information about political context.

The son of former PN minister Austin Gatt, Gege Gatt measured “keyword density” – the repetition of specific words within the text – and also examined the influences which formed Dr Fenech Adami’s beliefs, in order to understand the underlying political theory in the speeches.

The phrases used in his 1980s discourse were deeply rooted in belief, he says. “Slogans were not slogans! They were more than frivolous, self-indulgent media statements.”

He said declarations such as “Is-sewwa jirbaħ żgur” (good shall prevail) were so connected to this value-driven way of doing politics that they still resonated with people today.

Slogans were not slogans. They were more than frivolous, self-indulgent media statements

Recently, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil used the famous phrase in the wake of an appeals court decision to grant the PN two extra seats in Parliament.

“Eddie's speeches were strongly driven by a sense of duty: the single-minded requirement for him to serve (“inservi”) a country that put its trust in him after a period of extreme Socialist doctrine....”

Three cardinal democratic values typically emerge: liberty, equality and justice, “which represent the basic values of any political system in which freedom is preserved.”

Dr Gatt describes the new website as being a repository of fundamental questions in political science.

The former prime minister’s speeches were “rooted in values”.

He said the questions raised by Dr Fenech Adami are still relevant to politics today.

“What is transparency? What is political accountability? What is justice? What are the goals of a decent society? And perhaps something that underpinned Eddie’s most fundamental thoughts: What is God and his role in our political journey?”

The website is “a lovely home for all the questions, and everything that Dr Fenech Adami represented. You may not agree with all his answers and ideas, but having a website which documents these vital questions is important.”

The website, which was launched last week, is the work of the Fenech Adami family.

Old VHS tapes of Dr Fenech Adami’s speeches were converted to a digital format.

Scanned photographs showing key periods under Dr Fenech Adami’s leadership can also be found on the website.

Dr Fenech Adami became PN leader in 1978. He was Prime Minister from 1987 until 1996, and again from 1998 until 2004. He then served as President of Malta from 2004 to 2009.

This article appeared in last weekend's edition of The Sunday Times of Malta.