That was I dare say, Mintoff's greatest moment in the greatest day of his whole political life!

That was the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one.

Now, new challenges were facing the Mintoff government.

The final departure of the British troops from Malta marked also the end of financial assistance from that country. Malta depended as of that day, completely on its own efforts for survival and prosperity. The government did its utmost to maintain the steady progress that had been achieved in the previous few years.

But a new menace faced the government, this time from within the country itself.

In its efforts to win over popular support, the newly elected Nationalist Party leader Dr Eddie Fenech Adami, and his associates, embarked on an international campaign to smear Malta's name in the international community. The infamous Malta File was circulated by the Nationalists through a Maltese man working in the U.S. They mobilised their Demo-Christian allies in Europe convincing them that democracy was being threatened in Malta, and that Mintoff had become a dictator.

On the home front, an equally effective campaign accusing Government members of corruption was launched. The Nationalist campaign was consistent as much as it was insistent, claiming eventually that corruption was institutionalised!

Although no actual corruption was eventually proved, yet the constant hammering did have its concrete effects. At the same time it cannot be denied that some did abuse their powers for their own and others' benefit. It was surely a political blunder not to have prosecuted these persons. Eventually many of these same persons, continued to abuse even when the Nationalist party was in government in the latter half of the '80s. Some of them are still having their good share today too, despite the 'new look' of the Labour Party!

On his part, Dom Mintoff, now ageing and fearful of the possibility of leaving his party without an adequate successor, and, which may be even more important, disillusioned by the attitude of the Nationalist Party who was doing its utmost to destroy an economy and country which he had so laboriously built through so many years of painstaking efforts, faced the electorate on the eve of the 1981 elections with the promise that he would not lead the nation without the majority of the people behind him.

Constitutional Deficiency

This declaration was catastrophic for Malta, since the Labour Party did win the elections and was voted to Government for a third consecutive term, but it obtained less votes than the Nationalist Party.

The fault lay in the electoral system which Dom Mintoff had fought ever since it was incorporated into the Independence Constitution, in 1964. He insisted that the system be changed when the new Republican Constitution was drawn up, but had to give in to Nationalist Party demands and compromise on this issue.

This system had advantaged the Nationalist Party in the 1966 elections, and almost had the same effect in 1971 too. The trick was simple really. Party political analysts would examine closely where the party votes are. The Government appointed Electoral Commission would then change the electoral districts in such a way that there will be as few wasted votes as possible in the each district for the party in government! Thus that party would elect to Parliament a larger number of deputies and therefore obtain the necessary majority.

In previous years the Malta Labour Party had taken to Court, the Electoral Commission. The party lost its case however.

Prior to the 1976 and 1981 elections the Electoral Commission revised the electoral districts, and was naturally accused by the Nationalists of jerrymandering, but was wisely not taken to Court. The best lawyers on the Island are also the foremost politicians in the Nationalist Party!

In 1981, though the Nationalists accused the Labour Government of jerrymandering the elections, and did not concede defeat. They had actually obtained more votes than the Labour Party, but these votes were not reflected in the number of elected members to Parliament.

The Nationalists therefore mounted a destructive policy the likes of which Malta had never seen before.

They boycotted Parliament for a number of years, and rallied support from many sectors of the Maltese society, as well as their political allies abroad. They left no stone unturned to turn foreign governments against the Maltese government. For many foreign governments, led by Demo-Christian or Conservative politicians, this was a god-send, for they never liked the idea of having a Socialist government in Malta. The United States President Ronald Reagan, for instance, bluntly refused the insistent requests made by the Maltese President Miss Agatha Barbara for an official visit.

Numerous politically-motivated criminal acts were perpetrated against those who collaborated with the Government. The many small unions representing various categories of workers, were organised in a single body, and injected with a good dose of political motivation suddenly burst to life as never before. Strikes of all types and kinds were organised in a concerted effort to bring down the Labour Government.

Mintoff at this time seems to have wanted to call general elections again, but it is known that his colleagues in the cabinet were against it. Mintoff never was the dictator he was accused of being.

Meantime, the elected Nationalist deputies, had lost their seatin Parliament for not having attended the sittings as required by Parliamentary regulations.

In a gesture of good-will by the Labour Party, these MPs were co-opted into Parliament to enable them to return to their abandoned seats.

Mintoff's retirement from the leadership of the party did not mean his retirement from politics. On the contrary he continued his activity unrelentlessly behind the scenes to bring about a consensus between the two major political parties on constitutional amendments regarding mainly the electoral system and the effectiveness of the post of President of the Republic. He advocated a system similar to those of the U.S. and France, an executive Presidency, rather than the Constitutional Presidency as at present. The Nationalists accused Mintoff that he was preparing for a come-back as the new President of Malta. I know that at the time there was infact some uncertainty about the matter even in Labour Party ranks, and in other quarters, including the Office of the President.

As another sign of good-will, and in view of the upcoming general elections, the Labour Government did not appoint a new President of the Republic when in February 1987 the term of Miss Agatha Barbara came to an end. Instead, agreement was reached between the Labour and Nationalist parties to appoint an interim President in the person of Mr Paul Xuereb. He was the only President of Malta to date to have been elected with the consent of both sides of the House of Representatives. Mr Xuereb was to stay in office for as long as was necessary until the two sides reached agreement on Constitutional reform.

The discussions at a special commission level, formed by representatives of the two parties did not come up with any solution to the dilemma in time for the elections.

That election was won by the Nationalist Party. The discussions went on for two more years, but still no agreement was reached. This time it was in the interests of the Nationalist Government not to have an executive Presidency as this would have meant a curtailment in their administrative powers.

The discussions were abruptly ended when the Nationalist Government appointed Dr Censu Tabone, its own representative on the commission, to be the next President.

Dom Mintoff again contested the election of 1992 and that of 1996 which was to be his last, and maintained the enormous support he had enjoyed ever since contesting his first general election in 1947.

During the 1996 - 1998 Labour-led legislation, notwithstanding the fact that he is now an octagenarian, he was still extremely active in Parliament, and maintained his characteristic eloquence honesty and integrity. He did not hesitate to vote against the Labour Government or abstaining his vote, on matters which he deemed were not beneficial to the working class majority of people in this miniscule Republic. Dom Mintoff's un-planned retirement from the political scene by not contesting the unwarranted 1998 General Election, has left a strong impact on Maltese history as I shall shortly discuss in the next pages.