[attach id=382680 align="left" size="medium"]Lino Spiteri. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi[/attach]
“Malta has lost one of its best critical minds and a politician of integrity who worked tirelessly for tolerance, reconciliation and justice.”
That is how Daniel Massa described fellow author and former Labour Cabinet minister Lino Spiteri who passed away yesterday at the age of 76.
He may have been more popular as a politician with a career spanning over 40 years, but Mr Spiteri was also well known in academic circles for his literary works.
Though he retired from politics in 1998, Mr Spiteri still remained in touch through his regular columns in Times of Malta, The Sunday Times of Malta and other media until quite recently.
Prof. Massa said he was saddened by the loss of his “friend”, noting he had known Mr Spiteri for about 50 years. In the past, they used to hold regular meetings to debate Maltese literature. Later, Prof. Massa also penned the introduction of Mr Spiteri’s book of short stories.
We used to meet to debate Maltese literature
Mr Spiteri was first elected as a Labour MP in 1962, at the height of the politico-religious dispute when party officials had been interdicted by the Maltese Church. Former Labour minister Joe Micallef Stafrace recalled yesterday that Mr Spiteri, along with him and another Labour official, had got married within a few weeks inside the church sacristy due to the interdiction.
“After all these years, I jokingly taunt senior Curia officials that this particular sacristy had a unique 100 per cent record because the three marriages celebrated in it never broke up,” he said.
Dr Micallef Stafrace lauded his former colleague also for the fact that, back then, it was almost unheard of that people with a physical disability would have such a successful career.
Mr Spiteri’s exit from politics came at the end of Labour’s 22-month stint in government in the late 1990s under the Premiership of Alfred Sant.
Mr Spiteri had his own views about the VAT issue, which Labour had replaced with CET, but remained loyal to the end.
Environment Minister Leo Brincat, who had succeeded him at the finance ministry, admitted that Mr Spiteri “was a hard act to follow”. “He was an intellectual with a down-to-earth approach and highly respected in circles across the political divide,” he said.
He was an intellectual, but down to earth
Former PN Cabinet minister and President Emeritus Ugo Mifsud Bonnici spoke about Mr Spiteri’s contribution in the delicate talks which paved the way for the constitutional amendments prior to the 1987 general election.
A government spokesman described Mr Spiteri as a politician who was always down to earth and in touch with the people.
The Nationalist Party thanked Mr Spiteri for his contributions to Maltese politics.