‘I may make mistakes but my heart is true’

27 Jul 2012 ‘I may make mistakes but my heart is true’

Posted at 6:07 PM in Blog by

Some time ago i was watching Profs Henry Frendo on a local television station discussing the political events at the time. I thought that his considerations were rather superficial, and in a telephone link, later on in the programme i said this much, if i remember correctly.

But there is something Profs Henry Frendo doesn’t know.

I was interested in politics as far back as I can remember. I come from a staunch nationalist family and at home whatever Eddie Fenech Adami said or did, it was gospel. I have vivid memories of the disappointment of the 1981 election when i was still seven. When i grew up, my interest in politics increased.

But instead of involving myself in the conventional way, maybe becoming member of a sectional committe or something of the sort, i used to read politics and follow international politics. That is where my interest in the law on party financing started, since I used to folow Italian politics closely in the early nineties.

At 24, a university law student in the final years,  i contested my first election (1998)  with the PN. It was a dream come true.

Some months later it was a candidate from the same district, Louis Galea, who as Minister for Education conferred my degree as doctor of laws!

Back to Profs Frendo. One of the books which has been a constant reference over the years is his book ”Party politics in a Fortress Colony – the Maltese Experience’ delineating almost a decade of Maltese politics. The first time i read it some twenty years ago, and it never stopped being a constant reference.

And there is a paragraph in page 23 that is my favorite quote from all the book describing Dr Fortunato Mizzi, the founder of the Partito Nazionale (P.N.):

      ‘ An idealist by disposition, a nationalist by conviction, Mizzi was acknowledged to be ‘very straightforward’, said to be ‘incorruptible’, and always showing a devotion to duty. MIZZI LIKE MAZZINI BELIEVED IN DUTY AND LIKE HIM HE MIGHT HAVE SAID ‘I MAY MAKE MISTAKES BUT MY HEART IS TRUE. He belonged not with ‘the men of rights’ but with ‘the men of duty’.’

A point of reference for all politicians

 

10 Comments
  • Grilled Angus beef
    Posted at 10:18h, 31 July

    @ Angus Black – I tend to disagree with your “forgetting that the Party is always bigger and wiser than you.”
    The party is as big as its supporters make it. In the case of GonziPN not the old PN the party has made to many evident mistakes. It is a fact that Austin Gatt is not a capable minister. Too many fiascos and too many shady situations. This for sure did not do the party any good.. so does that make Gatt a better PN MP then Franco? does the fact that the rest of the back benchers who do not even attend Parliament like Dr Stephen Spiteri or go there to sleep make a better representative of the people then Franco? or should we accept that MPs we vote are there should we need a personal favour and thats it?
    Franco is intelligent, but yes an idealist, a good boy , like many of us.. God forbid he accepts to wear a ring on his nose like many and just follow whatever is dished out.

    • Joe Vella
      Posted at 11:05h, 31 July

      I think a ring on franco nose is a good idea. He will look so nicer. how franco is representing ‘the people’ if thousand of people are fed up that he behaves in a bad way. I am not impressing that you are saying he is a good Mp of course he is a good Mp but he always is pretending to be a bad one and that is why now he is famous. imagine next year everyone will now that prime minister joseph is king of malta because franco alwasy is shaking parlimanet.

      • Grilled Angus beef
        Posted at 14:38h, 31 July

        I believe te one wearing the ring on his nose is Gonzo.. and Gatt, Pullicin, Cristina and Co do the pulling..

        • Joe Vella
          Posted at 21:11h, 31 July

          and where Franco put his rings?

          • cikku l-poplu
            Posted at 11:13h, 01 August

            “and where Franco put his rings?”

            you do seem inclined to indulge into weird fetishes Mr Vella. Mind you, piercings are highly fashionable nowadays and sported by many. However, one’s excused for thinking you’d go one further with your question. Does it tickle your twinkle that much if and whereFranco Debono sports a ring somewhere?

            ROFL

          • Joe Vella
            Posted at 08:42h, 02 August

            who is ROFL?

            ex-MLP

  • Joe Vella
    Posted at 11:21h, 30 July

    A big excuse for a small thing that franco debono is not a minister. Fracno you need to understand that you are not amazing for everyone as much as yourself.

  • Angus Black
    Posted at 23:08h, 28 July

    Dear Franco,

    The above rendition of your younger years, your political aspirations and your ‘unconventional’ way of climbing the proverbial ladder tells much how you have arrived at today’s situation. Your enthusiasm has pushed you and your ambitions completely out of sync to how politics are done conventionally.
    No one doubts your intentions, how right you are about certain issues which ought to be taken care of, the sooner the better, but thousands upon thousands are at odds with your methodology.
    Like I have written before, you don’t purposely burn bridges and hope that someone will rebuild them for you complete with red carpets so you can daintily trot on your way to being crowned king.
    I have no doubts in my mind that if you had some kind of time machine, you would not hesitate to rewind it to the point just before things started going to your head. That may very well take you to your childhood, or just about, but nonetheless you would have the luxury of redoing things as they should have been done in the beginning, thus avoiding the sticky situation you find yourself in these days. There was absolutely no reason for putting in jeopardy a career which on surface could have been rewarding and satisfying both for you and the Nationalist Party. Let’s be serious, Dr. Debono, given another chance, would you repeat the Form II c certificate nonsense? What an embarrassment that turned out to be! The Opposition are still laughing at that proud display of your mid-term certificate with high marks in, of all subjects, religion! Did any of the Opposition MPs and Joseph, show you any of theirs? Probably not in religious studies, but surely some must have aced their math or science or languages. They didn’t not because they don’t have any, but because they will not imitate such a childish display.
    Just take stock: You have angered and upset several of your colleagues and deposed one of them. You have stated that you will not work with your boss. Too bad you were not employed in an office where you had a boss and made the same statement. You would have learned quickly how fast you would have landed on your derriere outside the door. What saved you in the last four years is the fact that you have the one seat in Parliament which the government needed to fulfill the promises made in 2008. Is that the way to conduct business, Franco?
    I am not privy to what goes on at Pieta, but quite frankly I do not see why the decision taken needs confirmation, but it may very well be that the Party continues to treat you in the most civil manner possible and you should take a hint at least. Remember that the original decision about you and the other two was unanimous and for the life of me I cannot imagine that since someone would have changed his/her mind. We are talking about serious individuals who had probably wracked their brains trying to avoid a showdown, but you chose to go head to head forgetting that the Party is always bigger and wiser than you.

    Many, in fact the majority of Nationalists regret the events bringing this situation about and as I mentioned before, the only reason it has taken the Party so long to put its foot down was its strong desire to do what is best for the country first and tackle the internal nonsense later. The Opposition is so relaxed just watching the NP’s internal troubles that its leader took a somewhat extended vacation in Italy’s wine district in the firm knowledge that upon his return the turmoil would still be going on thanks to a few unwise decisions taken by the ‘three’ one of whom is you.
    Pity.

    • Cikku l-poplu
      Posted at 18:12h, 30 July

      “I am not privy to what goes on at Pieta” and why would anyone feel compelled to highlight that?

  • Fleur
    Posted at 22:03h, 28 July

    This is a Wonderful piece, where only a visionary could acknowledge the fact that ’un politico guarda alle prossime elezioni, uno statista alle prossime generazioni’

    Your contribution denotes that you re an idealist. Dottore stand by what you believe in and in time you will be proved right as has already happened many times before.

    You might be hampered from making a reality all the reforms that you wished to be seen implemented, hampered by persons who have ulterior motives, persons who have their own agenda, persons who have it good, and therefore won t have empathy for those who suffer. You might have been a pain in the arse to persons who were controlling the acts and Cikku l-poplu was foolishly unaware.

    You have risked a lot, because you believed a lot and you stuck your neck out, irrespective of the consequences.

    Is a person of courage delusional? I don’t think so. I think that a brave person knows the dangers but decides to face the facts irrespective of the consequences.
    The CONSEQUENCES …………

    Never regret doing the right thing. I don t. I support you all the way.

    Is sewwa jirbah zgur!