Opinion • March 7 2004

John Dalli – A man to be proud of

PN Marsaskala Councillor Michael Mercieca finds time to express appreciation for John Dalli

“This is a race amongst friends. Make sure you keep it as such from our side. If we change that it is only the Party that suffers. And that is something I never want to see happening.” This is one of the many similar phrases that John has repeated to us, his team, over and over again over the past weeks. “But what if others don’t play fair?,” someone would ask. John’s answer was standard: “We have worked too much for too many years to help build the party we have today. Eddie has taught us all how to play fair politics always and everywhere. It will never be me to break that rule. It will never be I who harms the party. And it will never be Lawrence or Louis either.”
I have known John publicly for many years now, seems like a lifetime. When John started working in the party I was still a child. John Dalli for me was always synonymous to the Nationalist Party. I started to get to now John better in recent years when I too got involved in the party front lines. Still, however, the John I knew was the public John Dalli, Minister of Finance. The man who collected money from many to give to all. The man who was always criticised for doing so. Never, it seemed, did the general public understand that unless our country’s finances were put in order, all the work others did in relation to EU membership would be futile. And this, I guess, is what brought me closer to John. I was always worried that all the brave work carried out by our Prime Minister, Minister Joe Borg, Mr Richard Cachia Caruana and their teams would all be lost because we would not manage our finances adequately. I always felt that the biggest hurdle we had regarding our EU membership would be our finances. So I always kept a watchful eye on the Ministry of Finance. Watching the way John was working his way through the years made me only understand more John’s great capabilities.
Of course all this led to more and more criticism from many. All this led to much more political sacrifice from John. The more John tightened up Malta’s finances, the more unpopular John was becoming in the eyes of many, including his own Nationalist supporters. When speaking to John about this his answer would simply be ‘I’m here to serve the country, not myself.’ It may sound a frivolous expression, but what always impressed me was not the saying in itself, but John’s gleaming eyes whenever he said it. John really believed in it. And he does so still today. Even after last week’s results. ‘Lawrence is now our leader. Let us make sure that we follow him and let us all keep offering our service to the party. We all have a lot to give.’ His words, not mine.
Of course when a few months ago John asked me to help him when the time comes, I could not refuse. I too believe, as Eddie always taught us, that we are in politics to serve. I came to see in John not only as a leader, but someone who inspired, a man of courage, a man of dedication. Little did I know then that over the days to come I would get to know a different John, an even better John, a John with an enormous vision for Malta in tomorrow’s world. A man totally dedicated to our Party, our leader, his colleagues and our country. A man wanting at all costs to make our country the best in our area, the best for us all. Yet, a family man, caring and gentle, capable of enjoying every minute of free time with his family and friends.
Working side by side with John over the past weeks has taught me a lot. John has taught me the greatness of our party, including the great capabilities of Lawrence and Louis. John has taught me the possibilities of the future of our country. John has taught me better family values for the future of my children in our country. Above all John has taught me what politics is all about. It is not about victory or losses. Those are only by-products. Politics is about being a man, a real man. It is about caring for others. It is about dedication to one’s country. It is all about having a vision of a better country and giving it all you can to get there. No wonder the Labour Party envies us. It is exactly what they lack. They lack people like Eddie, Lawrence, Louis and a John Dalli. They lack a man to be proud of.