Blog Monday, August 27, 2012
Mourning Dear Dom
The collective mourning for Duminku Mintoff was also symptomatic of a legacy of the blind devotion to the leader he cultivated to challenge an oppressive status quo.
Former premier Dom Mintoff
by James Debono
That is not to say that western democratic societies are immune to such feelings but grief is mostly reserved to victims of tragic circumstances whose death was either untimely or violently terminated, irrespective of whether the protagonists are celebrities, royals, sportsmen or politicians. In most cases the first three categories are more likely to be venerated. In itself this says a lot of societies where politicians have long lost their grip on the popular imagination.
In the case of Mintoff we were dealing with grief over the death of a frail 96 year old whose death was widely expected. So one would have expected less drama and more probing commentary. (click here to read more)
