The thought, completely uninvited, came at the recent launch of the book, Fjuri li ma jinxfux, in the renovated hall of The Palace with portraits of grim Presidents on one wall facing equally grim Presidents on the opposing wall, much like the configuration in Parliament – face-to-face confrontation.
Without noticing it, we have already entered what the Italians call the Semestre Bianco, which in Italy is a constitutional and often necessary political tool: six months before the election of a new President, there must not be any change of government. In the minds of those who came up with this, there is obviously the need to ensure that the choice of the new Head of State is prepared with calm deliberation and the ensuring of respect for the new incumbent.
Facing the guests at the launch of the book was the painting of the current President and, down below, the same President who was presiding the event.
Next to him was the man who President Fenech Adami repeatedly called “Malti ta’ veru” – Oliver Friggieri, who was launching his autobiography of the past 40 years or so.
That was when the thought struck: why not Oliver for President?
After all, Oliver Friggieri has long been considered the conscience of the nation. There are other authors who also write beautiful Maltese but none have the same seriousness of intent, of analysis, of questioning as Oliver.
When, in the turbulent 1980s, he issued his Fil-Parlament ma jikbrux Fjuri those who were present at the book’s launch in the Phoenicia ballroom can still attest it was a defining moment in Maltese contemporary history. Here was one who, like Solzhenityn, encapsulated the mood of the nation.
Since then, he has continued to inspire the country. As seen in the interviews he has given to many media lately, his is neither the euphoria at having joined Europe nor the desperation that sometimes engulfs those who were and still are against this development in Maltese history.
Far from taking sides, he has said over and over that the country’s political history since Independence is a reflection of the two sides of the Maltese spirit, that no one side can arrogate to itself the entire spirit of the country. And that Malta must remain itself and wait for no Europe to regain its proper identity.
Oliver is, if one can say so, beyond contradictions, surpassing most of us in doing so. He belonged to the MUSEUM but left it, entered the Seminary and left it but, far from turning against the Catholic faith, he has embraced it all the more without becoming in any way clerical. His novels, especially his earlier ones, testify to the suffering that so many families in difficulties go through.
Apart from Oliver’s intrinsic value as an author and as a person, there are other considerations to be made.
It is about time that we stop this habit that the Presidency of the Republic is an additional medal to be given to long-serving politicians, or to those who some would want out of the way. Malta does not have a popular vote to elect the President, and that is a blessing for due to our political mode of acting, that would become just another general election, much as the next European Parliament election is already becoming one. But to have a Parliament as divided as ours voting for one of its own, and dividing, as unquestionably it would, into majority and minority, does not give a good signal to the country.
For a President is there to unite the whole country and a President with a partisan past can hardly do so, as experience has shown us. It should be a defeat for a new President to be elected by a majority, slim or massive, as it already means that he or she represents a divided House and a divided country.
It is also about time that the country realises it has other, equally or more worthwhile representatives than those who enter politics. This is not being said to deride political activity but the country urgently needs a redimensioning of the entire topmost levels of its being as a State. Again, we have some unnoticed advantages: the fact we have part-time, rather than full-time, politicians, which is a boon and an opportunity rather than a handicap. It keeps politics and politicians close to the people. And, consequently, what better way to keep the State close to the people than choosing a non-politician as Head of State. Also, other countries have tried this and have gained, rather than lost, as regards national identity and stature. Look at the Czech Republic and Vaclav Havel, for instance.
Finally, a few words of warning. Let not the current government try to impose its choice over the Opposition and on the country. A government which was voted in by less than half the voters in the country and which has a (shaky) one-seat majority cannot really impose anything, especially the presidency of the country.
No matter what promises were made in the hurly-burly of the post-election Cabinet formation, there must be clearer reflection now. That is what the ‘Semestre Bianco’ is all about.
And the best reason for choosing Oliver Friggieri as President is quite simple: he is possibly the only man in the country with absolute humility, who would not dream of wanting to become anything. Who, if the fantasy that lies at the heart of this leader were to become real, would run a mile before refusing the crown. Which, in our books, makes him absolutely worthy of the post.