EDDIE – My Journey, Eddie Fenech Adami’s long-awaited autobiography, is out on Friday. The Sunday Times of Malta today features extracts that give a glimpse of this revealing book

On the succession of George Borg Olivier

The cracks within the PN that had been forming throughout 1974 were visible for all to see when, in December of that year, George Borg Olivier voted against the constitutional amendments under which Malta became a republic. By then it was clear that a number of people within the parliamentary group were no longer willing to accept without question what the leader of the party had to say on a given issue...

Knowing I was not happy with the state of affairs, a few members of the PN’s youth movement, led by Louis Galea, came to see me at my legal office in Old Bakery Street, Valletta. The meeting started off in general terms. Louis expressed his concerns about the party and was clear in his mind that Borg Olivier had to go, forcibly if not voluntarily. My response was that things had to happen slowly. However, he then dropped the bombshell, which was that they saw me as the most suitable successor. To say I was taken aback is an understatement. I was astonished and reacted negatively. I told him it was not up for discussion and he was not to mention my name to anybody under any circumstances...

We all agreed there was a need for change and that Borg Olivier was not delivering, but the fact remained he was still very popular among the rank and file of the party. Therefore, change could only come about at the right moment. My rebuff effectively halted the process until after the general election.

I told him it was not up for discussion and he was not to mention my name to anybody under any circumstances

Borg Olivier was not willing to step down even after the Nationalist Party’s defeat at the polls in 1976. He realised, of course, that his days as leader were over, that things had changed, and he was already in poor health; but he had been around for so long that he was probably not sure if there was life after politics. I think he had something akin to a psychological block...

However, there is little doubt the 1976 election made it easier for the Nationalist Party to move into top gear in its efforts to change leader. By that time I was president of the PN’s administrative council, the party’s most important organ, while John Camilleri was organisation secretary, an important post created by the new statute which enabled him to be present at all the sessions.

John, and to a lesser extent Louis, were insisting in my meetings with them that the issue could not wait and we had to move as fast as possible. I restrained them, well aware there was a momentum within the party – I would not quite describe it as tension – that had to be kept under control.

They understood this and, while John knew what needed to be done, he did it in an ordinate manner, knowing full well it did not suit us or the party to ruffle the leader.

Although I believed it was time for the party to make the change, and spoke out openly about it, in no way was I trying to engineer a situation that would enable me to take over. It did not even occur to me. I have always believed that you cannot fool the public; people can sense, through what a person says, if he is being honest with himself or not. So when I told people I was not after the leadership, they believed me. However, they also knew that, if asked to stand, I would, and that I would willingly do whatever was necessary to achieve it.

My relations with Borg Olivier during this period were not particularly warm. Anyone who knows me would say I am hardly the warm type. But we never had any cross words. On the contrary, there was respect and a mutual understanding to keep things on a decent level. He knew exactly where I wanted to go, so he trusted me in that respect, and I trusted him too by having faith in his ability to come round to the idea of change. Sensing the undercurrents, he attended every official meeting, listening and taking stock all the time, no doubt ruminating on how to manage the situation.

The breakthrough finally came at a parliamentary group meeting at Guido’s Ħamrun home, where Borg Olivier proposed that the party elects a designate leader, on condition, however, that he would have the final say over when to step down. Borg Olivier was adamant about that, which reflected his sense of pride and defiance. He was implicitly saying to all of us, ‘All right, I will abide by your wishes, but you won’t make me go. I will choose my time.’ By and large he did...

I actually think Borg Olivier was relieved when he handed over the baton on 11 April 1977, and was genuinely pleased I was his successor. During the leadership race, he may have given the impression outwardly that he was supporting Guido, but anyone who was listening attentively and watching what was happening in the national executive would have realised that he probably preferred me, though he never said it openly, or at least not outside his tight-knit circle of friends.

After I was elected Paul Borg Olivier told me that George had said to him: ‘After me, Eddie Fenech Adami should become leader.’ I had not realised it then, but in time I came to the conclusion that he had supported me all along.