A master class in respect for the electorate
The way Beppe Fenech Adami has handled communication with the public, in the immediate aftermath of receiving the news we all dread, is a politician’s master class in how to treat the electorate with respect.
Full disclosure is a hallmark of that respect.
It would have been easy for him, in this society which can’t speak the word ‘cancer’ out loud and which fails to understand that illness does not make one a private person when one is a political leader, to curl up into a cocoon of media-distancing behaviour and justify it with a polite ‘this is nobody’s business but mine’.
As a consummate politician of the right sort – he did grow up in his father’s household, after all – he knows that it is the responsibility of a political leader to keep the electorate fully apprised of any grave illness, and this even if he is not in power.
Though he is not in government, he is still the deputy leader of the Opposition party.
When his father, then prime minister, underwent quite serious surgery, the public was kept informed by regular updates through his surgeons – who had his permission to speak – and his office.
This was my beef with Louis Grech. Though he was suffering from cancer when he was deputy leader of the Opposition party, he and his Labour Party did not consider that the electorate had a right to know what was going on, and what the prognosis was. To this day, we have never been told what sort of cancer it is or was that Louis Grech has or had. We have not even been told he has or had cancer. I was the one who broke that news on this website, and for that I was jumped upon and accused by the mad and subliterate hamalli on Facebook and the internet comments-boards of ‘tattakka n-nies bil-mard’.
It is pointless trying to explain to people of that level of ignorance (from all social backgrounds, incidentally) that it is the duty of a political leader, in a proper democracy, to announce his own illness and give a detailed description of it, of the prognosis and of his treatment, to those to whom he is accountable: the electorate.
Pretending that nothing is happening or hiding behind a wall of assumed privacy is simply not an option. Even Alfred Sant had his surgeon speak to the press and give details of his cancer, though he didn’t do so himself as I recall. And he was leader of the Opposition, not prime minister.
When Hugo Chavez of Venezuela was beset by cancer and not able to appear in public because he was so ill, his office pretended he was hale and hearty and refused to give details. The pretence carried on right up until the day of his death. It was his pretence, and not his cancer, that made the international news. Yes, Hugo Chavez – this is the stuff of the undemocratic.
It is impossible to imagine any senior European political leader not doing exactly what Beppe Fenech Adami has done, and impossible to imagine them doing what Louis Grech did, which is to adopt the ‘mind your own business’ approach. It is our business. It is very much our business.
Any political leader who wishes to keep his cancer or other serious illness private should step down from his position. It is the same with the CEOs and decision-makers of major listed companies, as it happens: there is a reporting obligation on serious illness, because of accountability to shareholders.
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The sign of a statesman brought up by a statesman.
We pray for his well being.
The Opposition party, or what’s left of it.
What exactly is your point, Dimitri?
What’s left at the PN Opposition are decent and accountable folk.
Beppe … Be strong … I will pray for your full recovery
One of the subliterate hamalli who took issue with your news about Grech was one Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando (Smith Camilleri Ciantar).
He was on One TV saying that you had stolen Grech’s records from hospital.
Respect is something that must be earned.
Beppe Fenech Adami gives it to a foolish electorate that does not deserve it.
That is the stuff of statesmen and heroes.
We will be praying for him and his family.
This is statesman class, which only a minority of the electorate can even begin to comprehend.
Good luck, Beppe.
If you feel you need more moral support ask Daphne to put you in touch with me.
I think I can give you a bit of a boost, if you need any.
I cannot disclose more at this stage for obvious reasons.
Fight it all the way.
Do not give up.
Cry, if you need to, it helps sometimes. But keep fighting.
The support of those close to you will also help.
I am sure you have a surfeit of this.
May God and the Madonna Ta’ Lourdes (this is not a joke) bless you and watch over you.
Anthony naqbel miegħek u ningħaqad miegħek fil-pariri sbieħ li tajt lil Beppe. Beppe awguri għall-fejqan ta’ malajr. U żgur li se niftakru fik fit-talb tagħna ta’ kuljum. Kuraġġ lilek u lill-familja tiegħek.
I wish Dr Beppe Fenech Adami a speedy recovery. I respect his decision to go public on his illness. In the past there were cases when public information on medical conditions by public persons was not given or details of the ailment was not given or was sparse.
I understand that the public should know if say a current or former prime minister, president of the republic or archbishop is hospitalised. Nevertheless if public persons have the right to a degree of privacy, should the public have the right to know all the details of any medical condition a public person may suffer from?
[Daphne – No, not your average backbencher, of course not. But definitely politicians in leadership roles and cabinet ministers, yes. But even with the average backbencher – he or she is accountable to district constituents and should disclose the situation to them somehow.]
David, the point that many miss is that democracy does not simply hinge on voting once every five years.
Democracy entails accountability of a person who has been voted in office to those who have put him there. Once the official is voted in then he or she becomes a public figure and everyone has the right to know whether the official has enough integrity and capability to perform his or her function.
This means that while it is unimportant to know an MP’s dietary preference because it has absolutely no consequence on how the country is run, we need to know whether the MP is a drug addict, a glutton, depraved, sick, or an upstanding member of the community. It is an issue of trust. It is an issue of public consultation and transparency.
I am sure that Dr Fenech Adami would have preferred keeping his illness under wraps. However he owes an explanation to his electorate and made the right choice. On the one hand, I understand Louis Grech. On the other I completely disagree because he failed the electorate on this point. No one wants to gloat that Grech and Fenech Adami are ill. That is besides the point. We all feel bad for both. Cancer, after all, is nasty, destructive, and usually terminal.
From the various comments I see on the Times, the Maltese appear to equate democracy to the right to vote anyone whom they like into office. Once the deed is done, then the party wins the right to do what it pleases in government. Those who voted the party in must side with and defend their choice come what may. Public aspects of the lives of MPs are not to be talked about even though they impact the nation’s welfare and rights. In Malta, political opinions are not opinions but issues of blind fandom and, in many instances, fanaticism.
In Malta, we serve our preferred party and the government (colonial mentality supreme) rather than the other way around. It is only obvious that true criticism rarely appears and when it does, criticism is taken to be disruptive, negative, and, as we have always seen under Labour governments, against national interest. Disagreeing is not a sin.
We will pray for him and for his family, and for all those suffering from this illness who we know or do not know.
Beppe Fenech Adami’s honesty and determination in that interview are helping me through my grief at the loss of two family members in the space of a month to this disease. His words have given me, as well as my family, a rock to hold on.
I’m not the kind of person who believes in prayer much, but I’d bet that if Beppe uses the same strength and courage in facing down his illness as he does in his political life, then half the battle will be fought.
Setting a benchmark.
Dr.Fenech Adami chose to talk about his illness. And what if he did not want to reveal anything? It is up to him.
I think that it is his private life and has nothing to do with his position in the party.
I wish him the best of luck. Cancer is a dreaded disease but today the treatment is as aggressive as the cancer itself. One has to remain positive.
[Daphne – You are wrong, Persil. People in a leadership position have the obligation to say the truth about their situation. This in any organisation, let alone with the leadership of the Opposition party. Those who do not wish to disclose such details should step down. One’s health is not in the same category as one’s marital life: it directly impacts on your ability to do the job. My own view right now is that he should send everyone and everything to hell and just concentrate on what is truly important at this stage. This really is a time of choices.]
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Daphne is right.
She almost always is, anyway.
Beppe is a public figure and he dealt with the situation admirably.
His genes would have prevented him from acting otherwise.
Il-fula bin il-mizwet.
The private life of a public person placed in that position by those who voted for him should not be concealed from the voters when it could interfere with his ability to continue to serve. With such honest transparency he would be proving conclusively his absolute fitness to be trusted.
The greatness of a man is mostly evident in times like these. The way he came out about his difficult moment shows that he is a man of integrity. Unfortunately, both my parents died from cancer, but the outcome is not necessarily always the same. I know other people who managed to live on after being diagnosed which such illness. So, Beppe be strong and fight it all the way.
Buon sangue non mente .
Such a gentleman as Beppe Fenech Adami can give much hope and strength to others just as his father and mother did in their time.
Qed issemmu lil Mary Fenech Adami. M’għandix dubju li minn fejn qiegħda żgur qed titlob għalih.
Steve Jobs did the same. He kept everyone informed.
But I think even Dr. Sant did the same way back in 2008.
Yes. Dr. Sant, then leader of the Opposition, immediately informed the public about his state of health in 2008.
Doing the right thing is not the prerogative of any one party. It is a great pity when it preponderates in one party and not in all of them.
But you as a family doctor I assume, should know better that not everyone can face the word cancer.
Have courage, Dr. Fenech Adami. I wish you well in this difficult time for your family and yourself.
As far as Louis Grech is concerned, I don’t expect anything better from the Labour camp. After all, it is a party of deceit and secret agreements with the Chinese Communist party, led by a person who even kept his sale of passport scheme away from public knowledge before the 2013 election.
I admire the courage and correctness of the whole Fenech Adami family.They have been beaten,injured,attacked , ridiculed,opposed but never has any member of the family retaliated with vindictiveness or spite. Beppe be strong and let all of us pray for a speedy recovery.
Beppe Fenech Adami has indeed given a lesson to all politicians on how true leaders should act, even in the face of very trying personal circumstances. Dr. Fenech Adami you are in our prayers.
Don’t like him as a politico but he has shown that he has what it takes to get him through this ordeal (i.e. that part of it that is in his own hands). I wish him the very best of luck.
Persons who cower in the presence of truth, usually do not like its messengers.
Not so long ago he wasn’t the messenger at all, Angus. I have been, and still am a messenger, and yes I tend to agree.
Only the recipients of the message have now changed: tactics are similar or even worse.