Lino Spiteri | |
---|---|
Finance Minister of Malta | |
In office December 1981 – September 1983 | |
Preceded by | Ġużè Cassar |
Succeeded by | Wistin Abela |
In office September 1996 – March 1997 | |
Preceded by | John Dalli |
Succeeded by | Leo Brincat |
Personal details | |
Born | Qormi, Malta | 23 September 1938
Died | 14 November 2014 | (aged 76)
Political party | Labour Party |
Spouse | Vivienne Azzopardi |
Children | 4 |
Alma mater | St Peter's College, Oxford |
Lino Spiteri (23 September 1938 – 14 November 2014) was a Maltese writer and politician. He served as Finance Minister from 1981 to 1983, and again from 1996 to 1997. [1] [2] [3]
Spiteri graduated in politics and economics at St Peter's College, Oxford and got involved in politics in 1957 as a member of the Labour Party's national executive committee. [4] He was first elected to Parliament in 1962, at 23 years, and served in Parliament for 21 years. [5]
From 1964 until 1966 Spiteri was deputy editor of It-Torca, and head of publications at Union Press. [4]
Spiteri worked as a research officer with the Malta Chamber of Commerce, and joined the Central Bank of Malta in 1970, [4] later serving as its deputy governor during the Mintoff years, with the nationalisation of private banks. [5]
Spiteri served as Finance Minister from 1981 to 1983 and as Trade and Economic Planning Minister from 1983 to 1987. [4] He did not always have a good relation with Prime Minister Dom Mintoff. [5]
In 1992 Spiteri contested the party leadership following the resignation of Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, but he was defeated by Alfred Sant. [5]
In 1996, Prime Minister Alfred Sant appointed Spiteri as Finance Minister, but he resigned only five months later, in 1997, following Sant's announcement that he would remove VAT, a policy which he disagreed with, and on which he had not been consulted. [5] With the electoral defeat of Labour in 1998, Spiteri left politics. [4] In the following years, he was a regular political commentator and analyst on the country's newspapers. [5]
In 2003, differently from the Labour Party line, he voted in favour of EU membership. [5]
In 2008 he was awarded Ġieħ ir-Repubblika [5] and made Companion of the Order of Merit (K.O.M). [4]
Spiteri autored several novels and short stories such as Anatomija - short stories and Il-Halliel u stejjer ohra, and was a regular newspaper contributor. [4]
He was married with four children. [4]