Dom Mintoff

Dominic Mintoff (Duminku Mintoff, ; often called il-Perit, "the Architect"; 6 August 1916 – 20 August 2012) was a Maltese Socialist politician, architect, and civil engineer who was leader of the Labour Party from 1949 to 1984, and was 8th Prime Minister of Malta from 1955 to 1958, when Malta was still a British colony, and again, following independence, from 1971 to 1984.

His tenure as Prime Minister saw the creation of a comprehensive welfare state, nationalisation of large corporations, a substantial increase in the general standard of living and the establishment of the Maltese republic, but was later on marred by a stagnant economy, a rise in authoritarianism and outbreaks of political violence.

Mintoff was born on 6 August 1916, the third-born and eldest male sibling of nine, born to Lawrence (or Laurence) "Wenzu" Mintoff (who hailed from an old Gozitan family) and his wife, Concetta Farrugia (known in Maltese as Ċetta tax-Xiħ).

He was baptised the next day in his hometown Bormla in the Sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception.

His father was a local cook employed by the British Royal Navy and his mother was reputed to have been a pawn broker or money lender.

He attended a seminary but did not join the priesthood.

One of his brothers did become a priest, however, and one of his sisters became a nun.

Dom enrolled at the University of Malta.

After a brief stint as an official of the Bormla Labour Party club, Mintoff was Labour's Secretary General between 1935 and 1945 (resigning briefly to pursue his studies abroad).

He graduated with a Bachelor of Science and, later, as an architect and civil engineer (1937).

That same year he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and pursued his studies at Hertford College, Oxford, where he earned a Masters in Science and Engineering in 1939.

He was first elected to public office in 1945 to the Government Council.

In the same year, Mintoff was elected Deputy Leader of the Party with a wide margin that placed him in an indisputable position as the successor, if not a challenger, to party leader Paul Boffa.

After Labour's victory at the polls in 1947, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Works and Reconstruction, overseeing large post-War public projects.

Mintoff's strong position and ambition led to a series of Cabinet crises.

A split in the Labour Party came about when Boffa, who was ready for compromise and moderation with the colonial authorities, resigned and formed the Malta Workers Party and Mintoff refounded the Labour Party as the "Malta Labour Party" of which he assumed leadership.

The split resulted in the weakening of both parties and it was not until 1955 after remaining out of government for three consecutive legislatures, that the Labour Party was elected to office with Mintoff as Prime Minister.

This government's main political platform – integration with the UK – led to a deterioration of the Party's relations with the Catholic Church, leading to interdiction by the Church which resulted in voting Labour being declared a mortal sin leading all who defied the Church to be informally known as "Suldati tal-Azzar" ("Soldiers of Steel").

The Labour Party lost the subsequent two elections in 1962 and 1966, and boycotted the Independence celebrations in 1964 due to disagreements with the Independence agreements which still gave a good amount of power to the British Government.

Following the lift of the interdiction in 1964, and the improvement of relationship with the Catholic Church in 1969, Dom Mintoff was elected as Prime Minister when Labour won the 1971 general election and immediately set out to re-negotiate the post-Independence military and financial agreements with the United Kingdom.

The government also undertook socialist-style nationalisation programmes, import substitution schemes, and the expansion of the public sector, the collective sector and the welfare state.

Employment laws were revised with gender equality being introduced in salary pay.

In the case of civil law, civil (non-religious) marriage was introduced and sodomy, homosexuality and adultery were legalised.

Through a package of constitutional reforms agreed to with the opposition party, Malta declared itself a republic in 1974.

The Labour Party was confirmed in office in the 1976 elections.

In 1979, the last British troops left Malta.

This led to a political crisis whose effects continued through much of the 1980s characterised by mass civil disobedience and protests led by Opposition Leader Eddie Fenech Adami as well as increasing political violence, such as Black Monday.

In 1981, amid allegations of gerrymandering, the Party managed to hold on to a parliamentary majority, even though the opposition Nationalist Party managed an absolute majority of votes.

A serious political crisis ensued when Nationalist MPs refused to accept the electoral result and also refused to take their seats in parliament for the first years of the legislature.

Mintoff called this action "perverse" but it was not an uncommon one in any parliamentary democracy with disputed election results.

He proposed to his parliamentary group that fresh elections be held, but most members of his Parliamentary group rejected his proposal as it was likely that the prior result would be repeated.

For the 1981 elections, the opposition Nationalist Party, reinvigorated with a new leader and backed by various Conservative and Christian Democratic parties in Western Europe, looked set for a serious challenge to Mintoff.

In fact, in that election, the Partit Nazzjonalista managed an absolute majority of votes, but managed only 31 seats to the Malta Labour Party's 34.

Mintoff said that he would not be ready to govern in such conditions and hinted that he would call for fresh elections within six months.

However, pressure from party members forced Mintoff to do otherwise: Mintoff eventually accepted the President's invitation to form a government.

Mintoff stayed on as prime minister until 1984, during which time he suspended the work of the Constitutional Court during discussions with the Opposition to amend the Constitution.

He resigned as Prime Minister and Party leader aged 68 in 1984 (although he retained his parliamentary seat), opening the way for his deputy prime minister, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, to succeed him.

Mintoff resigned as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party in 1984, while retaining his Parliamentary seat and remaining a government backbencher.

He was succeeded by Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici.

Mintoff was instrumental in convincing his parliamentary colleagues to support constitutional amendments ensuring a parliamentary majority for the party achieving an absolute majority of votes.