• Irrespective of political beliefs, no matter how harsh he might have been, Dom Mintoff was Malta’s greatest contributor both internally and to our standing worldwide. His was a tough era, and this was reflected in his decisions. We were a colony (the word ‘slavery’ comes to mind). People were not given a decent burial due to their political beliefs. Most importantly he started an era where men and women would have equal rights and a right to vote and he was the first to introduce a woman as president.
Reuben Micallef
• The reality is that after 18 years of his and his successor’s government, Malta had to start rebuilding itself from scratch. We had no real economy to speak of, absolutely no infrastructure, healthcare and education were grossly substandard (to say the least) and our social services were bankrolled by Gaddafi. And to add insult to injury our democratic and human rights were ruthlessly trampled upon. I have no respect for him.
J. Abela
• I disagree with most of his accomplishments dated from 1971, but totally support him in the earlier years of his struggle. It is thanks to him that we are at least a half secular nation, it was thanks to him that Malta had the chance to become one of the world’s richest countries with his vision of integration.
I do cherish the idea of becoming a true independent nation and a republic. But unfortunately Malta ended up in the wrong kind of hands and I actually conclude that Maltese are not responsible enough to run our own country. Look to what we did in 40 years of independence – we destroyed a country that once was called a haven.
A. Spiteri
• Unfortunately (for some) not everyone turns into a hypocrite once a man dies.
Mr Mintoff started out with good intentions and suddenly fell in love with the feeling of power – leading to political hatred, massive and blatant corruption, an uneducated country, deaths, injustice, disgusting treatment of everyone and everything not Socialist which led to Malta being in 1987 what other respectable countries where in 1955. Let history never be rewritten.
Nicky Azzopardi
• Mr Mintoff will be remembered as the man who made the Maltese realise and believe that they were no less than any other people, and they could stand on their own two feet.
Victor Laiviera
• All else – good or bad – pales into insignificance by comparison.Mr Mintoff built this nation. Tens of thousands of families have a roof over their head thanks to him. Thousands are still employed in the large companies he lured to Malta. Many more are still enjoying the benefits which he established. His legacy is unmatched.
Paul Gauci
• Joseph Muscat said: “We have all been orphaned”. Dr Muscat has no right to speak in my name.
Antoine Vella
• It’s a chance to start making amends for the greatest missed opportunities of the Mintoffian era, distance oneself from that horrible past, and move on. May he rest in peace, and may Malta remember him for the little good but also the disastrous results of the bad governance of this ex-prime minister.
J. Sciberras
• Mr Mintoff was the greatest political and Maltese national figure of the 20th century. He gave dignity to the Maltese poor. He took us out of a colonialist mentality and allowed us to walk tall when dealing with foreign people and nations.
Albert Leone Ganado
• As a teenager, I remember spending weekends at political meetings, having a bottle thrown at me by my Labour neighbour (I was 14 at the time) as he passed by me on the way to a Labour meeting. I remember having my father-in-law beaten up after a meeting and moved from teaching post to another because he was verbal in his criticism of Mr Mintoff’s attack on the schools and the Church. I remember university courses being cancelled. I also remember my wedding in 1984, when several guests were unable to attend because of the attack on the Curia that same day.
Simone Camilleri
• He may have been a giant, but so were Castro, Ceausescu, Kim il Sung and Gaddafi. All friends of Mintoff, all giants. Being a giant is not necessarily a good thing, as Mr Mintoff and the four mentioned here prove.
Mary Ann Borg
• Dom Mintoff will be judged by history, as a change agent, game changer and a nationalist (not of the blue variety). I’m a child of the 1940s and 1950s and even at that young age, I could sense my father’s angst, a Boffa supporter, during the leadership upheaval. I’m not sure that my dad ever forgave Mintoff.
But I also remember going to infants’ school for two hours and when I returned home, it was my brother’s turn to go to school for two hours. I suspect that the path to our educational future looked very bleak. Then suddenly, the educational picture changed.
People like me, the son of a manual worker, had a chance at a world class education, which previously would have been totally out of reach. I will be eternally grateful to Mr Mintoff for that opportunity which has allowed me to prosper socially, intellectually and financially.
However, I must also acknowledge there were others at the other end of the scale who suffered hardship and discrimination at his hands. Mr Mintoff and some of his colleagues were true believers in the cause for Malta, but there were also a lot of opportunists who lacked ideals, and whose only purpose for power was to enrich themselves materially. History has already passed judgment on these people, and Mr Mintoff will carry the stigma for allowing them oxygen for their pursuits.
But for today, I just want to reflect on the phenomenal impact Mr Mintoff’s education revolution has had on my life. I never met the man but I remain grateful to him.
Rest in peace, Dom Mintoff.
Manny Parnis
• Neither Mintoff nor any other Prime Minister went through any sacrifices to give me a better upbringing than my parents.
If anything kudos goes to Eddie Fenech Adami for managing to haul the country out of the dark abyss. Mr Mintoff was the person to introduce the social benefits. However, I recall paying heftily for them. Apart from that, as good as these benefits might seem to many, it is the same benefits that are burdening our country as they become more unsustainable. Problem is that neither party wants to negotiate these benefits in fear of losing votes.
It was under Mr Mintoff’s rule that I spent months barely seeing my father as a kid because he felt like sending him to the other island for work just for sheer revenge.
For some reason, since my family was tagged as Nationalist (for no apparent reason as my family was Labour) there was plenty of wrongdoing done to us.
Freedom was given to us from the hands of foreigners, but was it really given to us locally? Who gained mostly? Dom or the Maltese? Did he really fight for us or for himself?
I could go on for hours. However, on the other hand it would also be unfair to discount his mammoth achievements. His influence to this country was paramount and perhaps, even if not always in the best interest of the country, he shaped Malta to what it is today. Whether that was positive or negative. Most importantly I’m quite confident that not only did he reshape history during his life, but he will continue to make history in the afterlife.
A. Sultana
• Many people, many opinions, but there is only one truth. Mr Mintoff took over the helm of the country when Malta was bankrupt, rife with poverty, riddled with housing and sanitary problems.
Through his determined efforts, Mr Mintoff stopped poverty, provided homes and aid for the poor, created jobs, and above all gave an identity to the Maltese people.
Mr Mintoff stood up against foreign bullying and against those who considered Malta and its people as insignificant. It was thanks to him we had a country of our own and recognised throughout the world.
Mr Mintoff left us a self ruled county, rich in both economy and wealth, only to end up as an enslaved colony in the EU.
Mintoff was no communist. He was the only prime minister who loved this country and respected the rights of the Maltese.
You have spent your life, looking after Malta, like a mother taking care of her children. You deserve your well earned rest now.
Paul Salomone
• Mr Mintoff was a divisive figure because of the violent aggressive methods he employed to bulldoze his reforms by suppressing the fundamental human right of everybody else to hold and to express an opinion different from his.
In practice this meant a horrible era of bombs on the doorsteps of dissenters, the burning down of The Times, the ransacking of the opposition leader’s home, destruction of the Curia in Floriana, political murders – always with the perpetrators escaping scott free.
He drew hatred to himself – but that did not faze him. He gloried in it. Before Mr Mintoff, George Borg Olivier had already demonstrated the ability of the Maltese to govern themselves.
Mr Mintoff’s idea was for Malta to continue to depend on defence hanouts from a UK government that refused Mr Mintoff’s asking price for extending the stay of its forces in Malta.
Francis Saliba
• Mr Mintoff made Malta what it is today.
He always fought for the rights and protection of the vulnerable Maltese people by creating social services that no other politician in Malta ever even thought of – pensions, education, children’s allowance, free schooling for all, trade schools and the infrastructure.
History will show us that Mr Mintoff as the greatest Maltese ever. Rest in peace Dom.
Joe Camilleri
• Many of Mr Mintoff's ‘reforms’ have not stood the test of time, while others have.
He is divisive because he was a hard man who smashed those who stood in his way.
On this day, however, these political and personal analyses are out of place. This is the day to bury a historical figure with dignity and respect.
B. Cachia
• Our history is made up of good and bad choices but no matter what happened in the past, we are who we are today thanks to our predecessors. Mr Mintoff reshaped politics in Malta and will always be an integral part of our nation. He is the man that forged our country’s politics and history and we should all respect him for that – as a politician, a human being, and a father... RIP to Il-Perit.
Alex Frendo
• It’s amazing how certain people suddenly change their opinion of a person when he passes away and then have the audacity to attack those who stick to their guns!
Matthew Saliba
• Dom Mintoff: a man who dominated the best part of Malta’s history as a nation. Adored and despised in equal measures, as much an emancipator as a dictator.
Marie Briguglio
• Maybe someday our kids will be able to debate recent political history without the baggage of bigoted mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers.
Toni Attard
• Even the most casual of reading of Maltese newspapers and politics reveals this man still dominates current political discourse.
He dragged the island from being a semi-feudal state, severed the umbilical cord with the UK then almost ignited a bloody civil war which took the genius of another political giant Eddie Fenech Adami to avert.
It is no exaggeration to say that the next Maltese election will hinge on whether today’s Labour Party can avoid tainting by association with this man’s excesses of 30 to 40 years ago.
With Mintoff’s passing, the mantle of the world’s most famous Maltese passes to Joseph Calleja.
Philip Lingard
• Malta lost one of its most prominent Prime Ministers yesterday. Mintoff – love him or hate him, he left a lot behind.
Nadine Zrinzo
• The king is dead, long live the king.
Andrè Cutajar
• Say what you want about Mintoff but his oratory skills were head and shoulders above the rest.
Andrew Camilleri
• We mourn the death of Dom Mintoff. Speechless.
Joseph Muscat
• It is a sign of political maturity that even Mintoff’s strongest political adversaries spoke of him positively regardless of his methods.
Leo Brincat
• One of the consultants asked me about Mintoff, and whether he was still alive. Even the Brits thought he was indomitable.
Paul Cacciottolo