Labour leader Alfred Sant resigned yesterday after heading his party for 16 years, including two as Prime Minister.
His demeanour at yesterday's press conference that possibly marked the end of his political career, following his third electoral defeat in a row, was characterised by a serene disposition.
The man so determined to walk up the steps of Castille that he contested a general election just three months after having a malignant tumour removed from his intestines, looked almost relieved.
He will most likely remain an enigmatic figure who found it hard to connect with the masses that flood Labour's activities. A secularist in a land of staunch Catholicism, separated but enjoying a very healthy relationship with his former wife who was one of the key figures by his side during his recent medical ordeal, nothing about Dr Sant is straightforward.
Born on February 28, 1948, Dr Sant, father to 23-year-old Marta, who graduated in sciences from the University of Malta, studied public administration in Paris and business management in the US, obtaining a doctorate from Harvard.
He is an established author of novels and short stories. He had managed to pip Malta's foremost playwright Francis Ebejer with his play Min Hu Evelyn Costa? in a Malta Broadcasting Authority television drama contest in 1965. His novels include L-Ewwel Weraq tal-Bajtar and Silġ fuq Kemmuna. His most recent book is La Bidu La Tmiem, a novel about Malta in 1599 which was published when Dr Sant was Leader of the Opposition after his two-year stint as Prime Minister.
Odd for someone who was mightily opposed to Malta's membership of the European Union, one of Dr Sant's earlier jobs was as a second, later first, secretary at the Malta Mission of the European Communities in Brussels.
He embarked on his political career as chairman of the Malta Labour Party's information department. He also served as president of the MLP and as the editor of the now defunct party newspaper Il-Ħelsien.
Dr Sant contested his first election unsuccessfully in 1987 and was co-opted to Parliament later that year following the death of MP Joseph Sciberras. Soon after getting elected as an MP from the eighth district in the 1992 election, he contested and won the election for party leader, replacing Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici.
Dr Sant reformed his party giving it a more modern appearance and building new headquarters at Ħamrun, setting up a radio and a television station and launching the weekly KullĦadd and the electronic newspaper Maltastar.com Many consider his greatest achievement to be the elimination of the violent elements from within the MLP.
He led Labour to victory in the 1996 general election after nine years in opposition, obtaining an absolute majority of votes for the party for the first time since 1976. However, his Premiership was short-lived after he clashed with former Prime Minister and Labour leader Dom Mintoff and subsequently lost a parliamentary vote in 1998, after which he dissolved Parliament and called an early election, in which he was defeated.
His decision as Prime Minister to freeze Malta's European Union application, to replace VAT with CET and to drastically increase utility bills, as well as his public quarrel with Mr Mintoff, were largely responsible for his defeat at the polls.
Five years later, in March 2003, Dr Sant opposed Malta's membership of the EU in a popular referendum, which was won by the yes camp. He refused to concede defeat claiming his partnership option had won.
Dr Sant subsequently lost the 2003 April election, which was largely about EU membership. He initially decided to step down as party leader but soon changed his mind and easily defeated his two challengers for the party leadership, Anġlu Farrugia and John Attard Montalto. Since 2004, the MLP has won a series of local council elections, as well the election for Malta's members of the European Parliament.
The party had been looking forward to an election victory last weekend but the Nationalist Party won with one of the slimmest majorities in Maltese history.