Karl Stagno-Navarra
Queen Elizabeth II has expressed “sadness” at the passing away of Malta’s former High Commissioner to London.
Speaking to MaltaToday, a spokesman for Buckingham Palace said yesterday that “Her Majesty has been informed and has been saddened at the news.”
George Bonello Dupuis served eight years as Malta’s High Commissioner in London from 1999 to 2007, and thanks to his renowned sense of humour, he earned the reputation of being the only foreign diplomat to make the Queen smile in an official photograph, upon presenting his credentials.
Malta’s flag on the official residence in Kensington yesterday flew at half-mast in respect of Bonello Dupuis, while the Commonwealth secretariat office in Pall Mall conveyed its condolences for the demise of the former High Commissioner.
He was popular in diplomatic circles and was always placed on the A-list and top tables in major events in the City.
The Maltese community in London remember George Bonello Dupuis for his endeavours in bringing generations of Maltese together, and was in fact the founder of the Malta Day-UK. On 8 September, 2000, a statue of Our Lady of Victories was carried in procession through the high streets of London, and that day turned out to be an annual event, that included a taste of Maltese folklore with band marches, Maltese food and colours.
Described as a “true gentleman” by all who knew him, Bonello Dupuis was a PN stalwart throughout the years he served as an MP and treasurer of the party during the turbulent 70s and the 80s.
While it may have been forgotten that during his years as treasurer, the PN had managed to probably generate the largest sums of money ever collected through donations to finance its tough anti-Mintoff campaigning. His idea of having plastic buckets make the rounds amongst the crowds in PN mass activities remains till this very day.
Bonello Dupuis, or ‘in-Nutar’ as many used to call him, was a “gentleman” in all respects: during his long political career he was direct, but never insulting or personal with his adversaries. In one unforgettable episode, in 1981 he was violently punched in the mouth by Labour minister Lorry Sant who crossed the floor and snatched his papers in a bid to shut him up. He never retaliated but kept the two teeth he lost as a “trophy”.
When the tables turned in 1987 and the PN was elected to power, Bonello Dupuis was appointed Minister for Finance and Economic Services by Eddie Fenech Adami – a post he held for almost two terms – during which time he initiated a revolution in the Maltese economy, catalysing the economy towards liberalisation, the sale of government owned shares in Bank of Valletta to the public, privatisation, the founding of the Malta Stock Exchange, and the setting up of the Malta International Business Authority, the predecessor to the Malta Finance Services Authority.
Throughout his term in office, George Bonello Dupuis slashed income tax, scrapped the infamous ex officio assessments and generated the concept of less taxation to generate a healthier economy.
His sense of humour punctuated the most serious of events. In 1994 when on official business in Madrid, an ETA car bomb exploded right outside his hotel room, blasting the balcony and the wall of his room off. That night he told his aides how he had been in the shower at the time of the explosion, telling them: “Please God there wasn’t any need to scare me or try and take me tonight, you know that I still have a lot of unfinished business to do…”
He loved his Kensington garden, commenting how passers-by often mistook him for the household gardener when stopping to compliment him on the beautiful flowers. “Yes I’m the gardener,” he would reply in jest.
Sliema was his political stronghold, and in 1996 when he called it a day in politics, he had asked his supporters to cast their votes to Guido de Marco who chose to contest on the tenth electoral district.
But Sliema was more than just votes for George Bonello Dupuis. It was his natural home. He served as President of Sliema Wanderers football club for 27 years after playing for the club for two seasons.
Former Wanderers president and PN MP Robert Arrigo said: “George will be the most historic personality at Sliema Wanderers. The club deeply mourns his loss.”
Godwin Bencini, his campaign manager since 1976 described Bonello Dupuis as the “most upstanding and loyal gentleman I could have ever known.” Visibly shaken at the news of his friend’s death, Bencini said Bonello Dupuis was “a real friend who had the great ability to feel a person especially if he was a close friend. Perhaps he would not initially show it but he would ultimately be there for him under any circumstance.”
Roger de Giorgio, managing director at MediaToday and formerly an editorial director at Independence Print described Bonello Dupuis as “a people’s politician who tirelessly placed party and country before himself. He was a daily and forever punctual visitor to his second home, the Stamperija, where at noon upon arrival he would raise all our spirits. He appreciated more than most that government’s role was to steer and not row the ship of State. He will long be missed.”
Speaker of the House and former Cabinet colleague Louis Galea remembered George Bonello Dupuis as “a giant role model for all those who believe politics is a vocation to serve…the people and the country.”
“Id-Dupuis, as all of us in the party fondly knew him and called him, was the embodiment of teamwork, tenacity, and love of country. He managed to instill in all those around him a feeling of belonging with pride to a political movement that was in fact shaping the next phase of Malta’s socio-economic development. He was a man to relish a challenge with verve and enthusiasm, generally with the conviction of sure success,” he said.
In his comments, Louis Galea referred to Bonello Dupuis’s last days: “he was still in a challenging mood, but this time, bolstered by his faith, was resigned to making the leap to a better world.”
Finally, he recalled the man for his role during the 70s: “The 1971 election ushered in the new Mintoff government and the beginning of a process of re-engineering of the PN. Bonello Dupuis was a lively and bubbly man in a small gang that put in motion a revolutionary process that under the leadership of Eddie Fenech Adami turned the party into an organised political instrument that first transformed itself to then transform the country.
“George was intelligent, well-versed in economic and financial matters; he had the gift of the gab, with a sense of humour even in the hardest of times, he had an incredible ability to motivate and to encourage.
“He bequeathed to the party a sound financial base and a headquarters that served the growing needs of a party that had spread its organisation to every corner of Malta and Gozo. He was a hard-working, successful finance minister, a disciple and friend of Eddie Fenech Adami, to whom he was absolutely loyal and respectful.”
George Bonello Dupuis’s funeral will take place tomorrow at 2pm at St Julian’s Parish church.
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