Labour’s MP George Vella yesterday revealed he had helped rope Dom Mintoff’s daughter, Yana, into the party and denied he held any grudge against the former Prime Minister.
I’m not saying his mind wasn’t there but this high fever could have affected him
Dr Vella was conspicuous by his absence during Mr Mintoff’s state funeral last Saturday, triggering claims that he never forgave him for bringing down the Labour government in 1998.
But when contacted yesterday, the popular Żejtun doctor insisted he never attended funerals.
While admitting that the “bad taste” of 1998 remains, Dr Vella said he had great respect for the former Labour leader.
“I don’t go to funerals as a rule and that is why I wasn’t there. Who knows me will tell you that I never attend funerals...
“However, I want to make it clear that, despite what happened in 1998, I have great respect for all that Mintoff has done during his career and I would be the first one to attend and applaud the unveiling of his monument,” he said.
Dr Vella said that, while it was true he had been “written off” by Mr Mintoff following the 1998 episodes, he had no personal grudge against him.
“If I had a grudge I wouldn’t have worked to get Mintoff’s daughter back to Labour and encourage her to contest the election,” he said.
Dr Vella revealed that Ms Mintoff Bland, whom he described as an old friend, had contacted him to speak about Labour and its policies and he had introduced her to party leader Joseph Muscat and convinced her to join as a candidate.
Asked whether the rift between Mr Mintoff and Labour had been healed, Dr Vella said the wounds still existed even though many people now understand better what happened.
“Mintoff never hit it off with Alfred Sant and he could never understand why our government was introducing so many anti-socialist measures,” he said, insisting Labour had no alternative at the time.
“I also have a personal theory that, during that time, Mintoff was very ill and was passing through bouts of high fever. I think this could have affected his judgement.
“I’m not saying his mind wasn’t there but this high fever could have affected him,” he said.
For Dr Vella, this absolves Mr Mintoff of ulterior motives as otherwise: “I could never understand why he wanted to overthrow his own party from government.”
He never met Mr Mintoff again after 1998.
“He had completely written me off and to tell the truth I never tried to establish contact with him,” Dr Vella said.
Alfred Sant, who was also absent from Mr Mintoff’s funeral, said he had no obligation or wish to share with The Times information regarding his state of health.
Mr Mintoff completely broke ranks with Labour when Dr Sant had organised a spontaneous meeting in Vittoriosa and said the former Prime Minister had betrayed the party. Mr Mintoff asked Dr Sant to apologise but this had never materialised.