Like many other people, I have followed the political life of Eddie Fenech Adami. Two points struck me in the long and troubled period of our recent history: his spirit of reconciliation and the political patience he practised to bring to fruition the most difficult negotiations.
I remember when we used to meet with him in a small group, insisting on results when things were difficult for Malta, and time seemed to be short for us all.
He used to comment: “You cannot imagine how difficult it is for the various European leaders, even those who share our ideals and vision, to understand our problems”. And he used to emphasise that it was only with great patience that we could succeed to make our point heard and respected.
Considering all this, one can imagine how worried he must be at this point in time in our history, when he sees the Prime Minister, with his diplomacy of somersaults, risking all that was built with patience over the decades.
This is in direct contrast with Fenech Adami’s political patience, which now has become history. I imagine that in this sense, Fenech Adami will be celebrating his 80th birthday on February 7 as a worried Maltese.
As far as reconciliation is concerned, it is public knowledge that this was Fenech Adami’s constant theme, as a man of faith.
Conscious as he was that for our small country the choice was between reconciliation and chaos, he stuck to his beliefs as Leader of the Opposition and later as Prime Minister.
It must have not been easy for him, as Prime Minister, to convince all his party, divided as the country was, that reconciliation should be our political belief and, in a practical way, our only path.
Way back in 1987, when on a visit to Malta from my mission in Brazil, I remember people serving Malta in top positions under his leadership, finding reconciliation a very difficult task. They told me: “We have to abandon this question of reconciliation because it will lead us nowhere”.
Happily for Malta, Fenech Adami, a man of faith and deep convictions, did not abandon this path of reconciliation. Of all the politicians who appeared in our lives in this small country, the politician who deserves the title of ‘The Man of Reconciliation’ is definitely Eddie Fenech Adami.