ATTENTION MINTOFFIANI: watch this and learn your own history
Here’s how Dom Mintoff became the worst thing ever to happen to the Labour Party, how Paul Boffa was the last time you had a decent, normal leader (who won the biggest majority ever at 60%), how it was Malta’s new Constitution, approved by Westminster when Boffa was prime minister, which ‘gave women the vote’, how Mintoff shafted Boffa and then proceeded to try to ruin his name by accusing him of incest, how he did this because he felt that Boffa had humiliated him in front of the British government, how Mintoff’s vengeful, spiteful, vindicative character was on display right from day one, and how his style of negotiation – ultimatums and more ultimatums – caused great damage even then. Go on, be proud.
Oh, and you’ll also find out that it was Prime Minister Strickland, of the Constitutional Party/Labour coalition government, who introduced the first social services, workers’ compensation, and free health care, with the building of St Luke’s General Hospital.
Again, definitely NOT Dom Mintoff.
Something else you might not know: voting for the Constitutional Party in the 1930s was a ‘mortal sin’, too, and the party was in open conflict with the Catholic Church. It was Strickland – again, not Mintoff – who started off the politico-religious controversy on the separation of church and state.
But I never heard either of my grandfathers (my grandmothers didn’t have the vote back then), both of whom voted for him despite the mortal sin edict, ever mention this, or speak against the Church ever, still less go on about it in the tiresome way Labour supporters do today. In fact, I learned about it through reading, when I was well into my adult years.
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A balanced analysis of Mintoff is described by Jeremy Bossivain ( Author of Saints and Fireworks: Religion and Politics in Rural Malta ) .
Forward to 7min 50 Sec because the interviewer annoys me .
[Daphne – You omitted the link. I’m guessing it was Reporter, and that the annoying interviewer is Saviour Balzan.]
It’s a balanced critique – note the emphasis on balance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0oEEpNmpW0
Thanks for bringing this video to my attention. It has reminded me what Labour is for. Labour is not limited to Mintoff.
There was Labour before Mintoff, and there is Labour after Mintoff.
But what comes out from this video is how Labour in the post-war years began shaping Maltese society as it is now, laying the foundations of a modern welfare state. Later governments have built on this. But credit must be given to who laid the first stone.
[Daphne – Actually, Albert, if you watch and listen closely, it’s a video about how the Labour Party took the wrong turn in 1949, how it was downhill all the way under the man who dominated it for his personal vengeful reasons after that, and how it hasn’t found its way since. The party under Boffa was the right recipe: no class hatred and genuine concern for social reform – as opposed to Mintoff’s ethos, which was revenge on certain types of people and using social ‘reform’ to exact revenge rather than to better the lot of the working-class, which wasn’t bettered at all compared to the improvements post 1987. Boffa’s party was really reformist, but it was a party that everyone felt comfortable with. He got 60% of the vote at a time when landowners and people in business and ‘nobbli’ and ‘puliti’ had more votes than others (one person could have several votes depending on how much they owned etc). He had the overwhelming support of the working-class, but he also had the support of the ‘puliti’. Gerald Strickland had no problems forming a coalition government with him, but I don’t imagine he would have been willing or even able to form a coalition government with somebody as rude, spiteful, crass and nasty as Dom Mintoff. Here’s the tragedy: Dom Mintoff is the very worst thing that could have happened to Labour, but because of the force of his personality and the myths and legends created around him, he is considered the key figure. What a mistake. Joseph Muscat resurrected the wrong leader.]
Mr Farrugia, I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick.
As you can see from the video, Mintoff gathered support when he rebelled against Boffa.
Mintoff then became leader and set the country spiralling towards the violent and chaotic mess it ended up in by 1987.
But the “Old Labour” Pawlu Boffa followers never made it back to the front line of the Labour Party. They never managed to stand up and denounce Mintoff and KMB.
The Labour Party of Pawl Boffa will never return. Mintoff managed to put an end to Dr Boffa’s ideals, out-looks and motivations. In their place there is nothing but envy that has become less and less relevant since equality is everywhere, opportunities are plentiful and one’s life is in one’s own hands.
From this festering rage and anger that has filled the PL ever since Mintoff’s time we will only get more of the same.
The same ideas, the same type of government and the same belief that it is Labour’s duty to rebel, rebellion being where the seeds of the current PL were sown. But what are they rebelling against?
And this is why the PL looks so ridiculous today. It has nothing to rebel against.
The only dictators we’ve ever had come from its ranks; there is no oppression of the poor and snobbery is viewed by people to be as bad as being a yob.
So it is always trying to invent something to rebel against. They are always trying to search for something to be angry about and feel oppressed by in order to direct their anger and jealousy at something.
Hence their reaction to VAT, their stance on the EU, their stories about people not eating meat and their preoccupation with the slogan GonziPN.
You might say that the PN supporters are the same, but we are not. I, for one, am tired of having to vote to protect my country rather than vote to improve my country.
And I am 100% positive that once we no longer have the Mintoffjan attitude within the PL, and once the PL owns up to its mistakes and its past, most if not all PN supporters will no longer vote with such a sense of urgency, and we can all finally go back to vote for ideas for our country’s future and not vote against people who want more of Mintoff’s spirit in the party.
However that will never be. Not for another three generations, I don’t think.
No doubt Franco Debono has studied Mintoff’s manipulative foot steps. He thinks that can split the PN, weaken Gonzi, encourage Gonzi’s removal then becomes the head of the PN .
Franco is a big dreamer.
That’s what I’ve been thinking. He genuinely thinks he can redo ‘a Mintoff’.
Sorry Daphne hope you dont think i’m vexing, but i might not have explained myself clearly in my earlier post. The constitution was not granted when Boffa was prime minister. Boffa became prime minister following an election under the new constitution i.e He would have never become prime minister had it not been for the new constitution. Follows therefore that Labour had nothing to do with giving women the right to vote other than that they supported the idea during the National Assembly. I agree wholeheartedly on your take on Boffa though as well as Strickland whose pivotal role in the development of this country is virtually unknown. May I also add that as chief secretary to the Government strickland was responsable for building and improving dozens of schools (ghat tfal tal haddiema) Also it was the upm – labour, and Upm – pdn coalitions who jumpstarted the idea of compulsary education and the first pensions were introduced in 1926 when Labour was actually in opposition. The list goes on. I’ll get on to it at some stage and forward it to you. I’m not one to say that Labour never did this country any good, but a good deal of what is attributed to it – particularly during the 1971- 87 years was actually none of its doing. Btw, as a point of interest, did you know that Mintoff recomended Boffa for a knighthood in the queen’s birthday’s honours in 1956? Thats how Boffa became Sir Paul Boffa (or Sir Paul as the Times had it in a recent article). Also when Boffa’s Malta Workers Party was disbanded he asked to rejoin the MLP, then under Mintoff of course, but the latter refused.
There was never an election when voting for Strickland meant one was committing a mortal sin.
In 1930, the Church issued a pastoral letter stating that those voting for the Constitutional Party and its allies (i.e. the Malta Labour party led by Boffa) during the forthcoming elections would be committing a grave sin. In view of these pressures on voters, the Constitution was suspended and the elections were not held. In fact it could be argued that the Church inadvertently helped Strickland retain a degree of power because his government was retained in a caretaker capacity.
Elections were held in 1933, with the threat of mortal sin still looming. However, Strickland, aware that he was heading for an electoral trouncing, apologised to the Church and all religious sanctions were removed a few days before the vote. However, both Strickland and the Labour Party did badly at the hustings.
[Daphne – A Jesuitical argument.]
There is no argument; simply a recounting of historical facts.
[Daphne – Thank you. Please contribute further. I find this kind of thing interesting and many of my readers do too.]
Amen to that Daphne. Be sure that the Mintoffjani will watch these clips and yet will remain silent because these are FACTS and they are afraid of facts because they bring shame on them and their party.
They prefer to build their ideas on assumptions and idols rather than on facts. As the saying goes “il-fatti ma jmerihom hadd”; and I add “L-istorja ma jmeriha hadd”.
Well done, Daphne. JM should watch these before he goes to sleep; maybe he will learn something from them.
Veru Prosit Erasmus.
Dawn nies ta’ veru li jafu l-istorja politika ta’ Malta mela dawk li jmorru jajtu viva l-Labour minghajr biss jafu x’gara fl-istorja, bhal dik l-avukata tal-General Workers Union Vella Cuschieri.
Issa misshom jiktbu u jghajru lil Daphne meta bis-sahha taghha qed jitaghlmu l-istorja preciza tal-partit Laburista. Anke Joseph Muscat ghandhu hafna x’jitaghllem u jinduna li zbalja li rega dahhal il-personalita’ u kunjom Mintoff fil-partit. Imma dawn kif jghidu ghal poter jaghmlu hbieb anke max-xitan.
Thanks for bringing this video to my attention, Daphne. I found it interesting and informative as well as an eye-opener. So what was it exactly that Mintoff did for Malta?
Why is he acclaimed as a hero by many? It is now very clear to me that right from the start Mintoff was no good for Malta.
Come on daphne, you must be having another surge of your usual bright hysterics. Mintoff was the worst thing ever happened to the PN and to some other draculas who sucked dignity from the many. Bye bye
Come on Daphne, you must be having another surge of your usual bright hysterics. Mintoff was the worst thing ever happened to the PN and to some other draculas who sucked dignity from the many. Bye bye and enjoy the PN marmalja celebrations.