Only the most politically myopic would have disagreed with Parliament’s fitting tribute to Lawrence Gonzi as he stepped down as Nationalist Party leader last Monday.
Dr Gonzi might have suffered a heavy defeat at the polls in March, but he leaves behind one of the few southern European countries to have successfully navigated the financial crisis.
His accomplishments as Speaker and minister are widely lauded, but his legacy at the very top has drawn mixed reactions.
It was bound to be that way – Dr Gonzi was in for a tough ride the minute he was elected Nationalist leader in 2004.
His party was riding on the crest of a wave, fresh from an election victory and a crucial EU referendum, which cemented Eddie Fenech Adami’s status as a political icon. The ultimate political battle was won but with it came the tough business of membership.
Dr Gonzi took control of a government waiting at the doorstep of the EU, and with it the unenviable task of weaving a mountain of EU legislation into national policy.
He also inherited a lot of unfinished work of a predecessor who was busy ensuring a big political mission was accomplished. The transition into the European bloc was to a large extent seamless, and in many respects that was down to the new prime minister and his team.
Dr Gonzi’s big electoral test came in 2008, especially since Malta introduced the euro just a mere 10 weeks earlier.
Yet, Dr Gonzi successfully steered a delicate euro campaign which proved the downfall of many other European governments. Capitalising on a good dose of charm, Dr Gonzi became bigger than his own party, which morphed into ‘GonziPN’ and against the odds beat the Labour Party for a third time.
Dr Gonzi became the indisputable ship captain but it was the prelude to the perfect storm. Elected with a wafer-thin majority and with a handful of MPs clearly more intent on seeking personal glory than working as a team, Dr Gonzi faced an uphill struggle.
And then the world economy lurched into crisis, millions were laid off, banks collapsed and Malta needed to stay afloat.
Dr Gonzi’s focus was wisely on keeping unemployment to a minimum. Factories and businesses on the verge of closing down were assisted, the economy – despite receiving blows from everywhere – kept generating jobs.
Meanwhile, he embarked on a task many before him were reluctant to touch: the privatisation of the loss-making shipyards.
But in doing so, Dr Gonzi lost sight of the smaller picture which eventually led to his heavy downfall.
He was forced to embark on a constant damage control exercise due to the actions of certain ministers as well as bitter MPs. In the case of the latter, instead of calling their bluff he created unnecessary jobs for them to buy their silence, harming his reputation (and health) in the process.
He also became too personally embroiled in issues like the honoraria debacle, the City Gate project, and the introduction of divorce. He was often criticised of trying to solve problems by postponing them.
But throughout, Dr Gonzi excelled on the international stage, earning the praise of world leaders for the way he coordinated a mass evacuation of expats from Libya, before negotiating a new healthy EU budget deal for Malta.
As Dr Gonzi leaves the political stage, many are already realising that despite some mistakes, history will judge him very positively.