Former Prime Minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici says the Nationalists provoked the violence in the 1980s during an interview with Herman Grech, and insists he will oppose EU membership to the very end.
Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici does not exactly represent Malta's finest political epoch. Taking over the baton from Dom Mintoff in December 1984, three years after gerrymandered districts propelled a minority Labour Party into government, the going was never going to be easy for the unelected Hamrun lawyer.
Flanked by thugs, both inside his parliamentary group and among the police force, Dr Mifsud Bonnici struggled to keep control in a country replete with fear amid political division. And in one fell swoop, just before taking office, 'KMB' managed to alienate Church schools, parents and students.
However, one thing nobody can accuse him of is inconsistency. He might not be repeating his infamous quote when he linked the EU with AIDS, but he is still firmly opposed to membership and insists on the importance of neutrality. He wisely capitalises on the global credit crunch and governments interventions to prove that Socialism in its purest form is a much better formula than being controlled from Brussels.
"Today, our Prime Minister is a puppet on a string," the 75-year-old says in his characteristically nasal tone.
More controversially, he still denies that his party was solely responsible for the violence in the 1980s and puts the onus of the unrest squarely on the Nationalists' shoulders.
Sitting at The Times offices, Dr Mifsud Bonnici readjusts his spectacles, sits up straight, and says matter-of-factly:
"In our time, we had a vociferous and militant opposition, far more than the opposition we have today. The opposition had the freedom to make its position known.
"We had a violent opposition. And nowadays, everybody turns a blind eye to this. At least once a week there was a bomb attempt outside someone's home to intimidate the government. The bombs were intended to destabilise the (Labour) party. The Nationalist Party was by far more violent than the Labour Party in opposition in the last 20 years."
Dr Mifsud Bonnici accuses the PN of conveniently fanning the infamous incidents of the 1980s to this day for propaganda.
When pushed to at least acknowledge that Labour supporters, or even the police, had exceeded the limits given to them by law, he says that some individuals had, perhaps, overreacted. But, he insists, the Nationalist provocation was intended to spark off trouble.
"The disturbances started in 1977 when there was a change in the Nationalist Party leadership. That's when the violent antagonism started. That's when the bombs started," he says.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici pours cold water on the incendiary incidents that dogged the 1980s. He insists that the shooting of PN supporter Raymond Caruana was not a case of political violence. If that was the case then the Labour Party could likewise conveniently accuse the Nationalists of sanctioning the death of Karin Grech.
During a demonstration in 1984, Malta Drydocks workers ransacked the offices of the Curia after a demonstration at which Dr Mifsud Bonnici was present. Again, he insists that these supporters were acting independently of the party, though he acknowledges the damage their actions inflicted on the Labour Party.
Though he says he was in control of the party, Dr Mifsud Bonnici admits that "some individuals" were uncontrollable, though he refuses to point fingers at anybody.
Emphasising his "disagreement" with some members of his Cabinet, Dr Mifsud Bonnici says he condemns every single case of violence which took place during his tenure.
However, he conveniently overlooks several of the political incidents which dragged on until the May 1987 election.
"From December 1984 till the end (of my tenure) there were the Tal-Barrani and the Raymond Caruana incidents. Otherwise, there were no other incidents..."
He says the Church schools' saga took place before his appointment as Prime Minister, dismissing the fact that he was the one overseeing the process. "The schools issue was a matter of principle. The divergence between us and the Vatican was not based on principle - we felt the Church had to provide free education for everybody. The issue was over who would foot the bill. The government had offered to make up the difference for any shortfall. The organisations which opposed it interpreted that as the government wanting to shut down schools, which wasn't the case."
It was evidently an awkward moment in history for Dr Mifsud Bonnici who had been an official of a number of lay organisations connected to the Church for several years. So how did he feel when he came in direct confrontation with the Church?
"I felt very uncomfortable, especially since my brother, a priest, was sleeping in the next room. But history has proved me right; that Church education should be free."
He has few regrets. Dr Mifsud Bonnici explains why he ignored Lino Spiteri's recommendation to sack three ministers, though he lashes out at his former finance minister for "saying whatever suits him most at the most opportune moment".
"Let's remember the circumstances I found myself in. I was asked to lead a government elected with an electoral programme of a party which at the time I didn't even form part of. My duty was to continue running the government which had been given the support of the electorate. I couldn't follow my mind at the time."
When pushed to say what stopped him from carrying out a reshuffle, he suddenly blurts out: "I will tell you things which are as yet unknown. The upper echelons of the PN - Eddie Fenech Adami, Guido de Marco, Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, Censu Tabone and Louis Galea - were dealing informally and confidentially with Dom Mintoff about amendments to the Constitution.
"Among these changes, they had agreed about a different way of appointing the President, while granting him more powers. When I was appointed Prime Minister on December 22, 1984, I asked Mr Mintoff to continue these Constitutional dealings with the PN, including that the party obtaining the majority of votes having the right to govern.
"We had anticipated that we would have hammered out an agreement by March 1985. Therefore, I postponed any changes in Cabinet pending these amendments to the Constitution."
Since no agreement was reached that year and with just 15 months to the last date before a general election could be held, Dr Mifsud Bonnici says it did not make sense to carry out any changes to Cabinet.
He says that the changes in the Constitution failed to take place for a number of reasons. He claims that the PN was aware that in the Labour Party and in Cabinet there was objection to the fact that the President would be given more powers, and would assume responsibility for areas like the army and police. It was also, he says, the intention to appoint Mr Mintoff as the first President with these new powers.
Was it a post he desired?
"No, he didn't. But Mr Mintoff would have accepted it because there would have been political consensus about the matter. Mr Mintoff had always insisted that the President should be appointed either by two-thirds majority in parliament or through an election. However, there was a stumbling block with this last option among many of my colleagues. The opposition got wind of this and the negotiations fizzled into nothing. The constitutional amendments had already by drafted by Edgar Mizzi.
"They never reached Cabinet because it was clear that the PN was no longer interested."
He claims that the Nationalists never objected to Mr Mintoff assuming such an important role.
"I can never forgive the PN for abandoning its commitment to appoint him as President. That was one of the main objections to Censu Tabone's appointment as President in 1989. He was one of the MPs who had agreed that the President should be appointed through a two-thirds majority or after a general vote. I expected the government to do what it did today - 20 years on - and appoint a president from the Labour camp. This should be the common practice."
His kinship with Mr Mintoff is legendary, the latest show of affection displayed last October when he collected the Gaddafi Human Rights prize on Mr Mintoff's behalf.
"I think the country has been ungrateful to Mr Mintoff... He built a nation, taught people to stand on their own two feet, and eradicated a servile attitude," he says when asked why he is still willing to give his all to the former fiery leader.
Wasn't he sorry about the way Mr Mintoff contributed to the Labour Party's downfall in 1998?
"I disagreed with what Mr Mintoff did, but nor did I agree with the way the Labour government did things at the time. The measures it was taking were antisocial and it later acknowledged it.
"It wasn't the way to deal with Mr Mintoff either. You have to give Mintoff something to chew on or else he'll chew you. You have to keep him active and not isolate him, pretending he doesn't exist. In my time, I relied on Mr Mintoff's vote. I changed the employment law without provoking his reaction. I respected him and gave him enough work to keep him busy."
But should the Prime Minister have to keep backbenchers busy?
"Of course - political life dictates it. You are depending on the free vote of free people. They have every right to disagree with you. You need to improvise when in government."
With the benefit of hindsight, he now says he would have carried out an immediate reshuffle if he knew that the constitutional changes were not going to take place by March 1985.
Ultimately, he says that the Prime Minister's job taught him how difficult the post was. Though a Prime Minister has a lot of powers he is also weighed down by several restraints, he says, citing as an example the government's own policy of job restrictions.
"One of the things I managed to change without provoking dissent in parliament is to introduce the policy of providing jobs for everybody," he explains.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici might have been absent from local politics since his resignation as Labour leader in 1992 (following a second electoral defeat), but he has always been a vociferous campaigner against EU membership.
"We lost our freedom and independence. Maltese policy is now dictated from overseas and the government has to operate within these parameters. In the past we used to commit mistakes and we would rectify them ourselves without anybody interfering.
"Our country is weighed down under a mountain of debt. Our people have lost their moral fibre. It should be able to solve its problems without resorting overseas."
Despite his age, and his sometimes ailing health, Dr Mifsud Bonnici has soldiered on through the Front Maltin Inqumu and Campaign for National Independence anti-EU fronts.
He refuses to give an opinion on the nomination of George Abela for president, preferring instead to contest the fact that the names of other potential candidates had been divulged.
Likewise, he is reluctant to discuss the qualities or otherwise of new Labour leader Joseph Muscat on grounds that the party has now chosen to take a pro-EU stand.
"A Labour Party in government will be restricted by the EU and he can't do what needs to be done. He would have to abide by the directives of the EU. This isn't a free party."
When asked whether he feels comfortable forming part of the Labour Party, with its refreshed European values, he says that every party needs different opinions.
"You can be a Social Democrat in or out of the EU. The economic and social values of the EU are not Socialist. Big EU countries are rejecting the EU rules and reverting to the remedies we carried out in our time."
So why are the European Socialists the most vociferous in favour of EU?
"Because they're doing what the Labour Party did - being dragged along by circumstances. They think the EU can guarantee social democracy. The EU's neo-liberal policy can never work. The EU operates with the majority rules policy and whoever is in the minority suffers."
Still, even though he is a minority in the party, Dr Mifsud Bonnici hopes that one day he will see the PL return to its anti-EU membership days, adding that he doubts whether there is a majority in favour of membership if a vote were taken today.
So if he feels so passionate about the matter, why doesn't he contest the MEP elections?
"It doesn't make sense. In a parliament of 750 members, what contribution can you make by making a minute-and-a-half speech once in a while. There's no hope that the EU can reform itself from within."
Dr Mifsud Bonnici says he has been approached to stand as an independent candidate, but insists his name will not be on any list.
As Dr Muscat is clearly trying to appeal to the moderates does he think it has moved too close to the centre?
"The party should not be moderate but it should appeal to moderates. If the party is moderate it will be more diluted when it comes to compromises. But when it's a party of the Left, and extreme Left, it can make compromises and adopt moderate policies."
His face creases into a smile as he talks about the way the biggest capitalist countries are now returning to Social Democratic ideals.
In countries like France, Germany, the UK and the US, the State is intervening in a major way in finances and the economy.
"They're nationalising the banks. Everyone's realising that people have more trust in governments than the private sector. Private pension schemes will go down the drain if the government doesn't intervene. The recipe is a public-private partnership, not privatisation."
It truly reflects the Dr Mifsud Bonnici we all knew in the 1980s.
Watch excerpts of the interview on www.timesofmalta.com.