There will be an unusual atmosphere in the House of Representatives tonight as the two sides pay tribute to the services rendered by Eddie Fenech Adami as President of Malta for the past five years, and then proceeds to agree on the nomination of George Abela as his successor.
It will be unusual for a number of reasons, the most particular of which is that never before, except for the nomination of the late Sir Anthony Mamo as the first President of the Republic in 1974, has there been so much consensus, from both sides of the House, for the nomination of a President.
Well, acceptance of the decision taken by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, later endorsed by Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat, has not been unanimous. It is a known fact that some Nationalist MPs have not welcomed Dr Abela’s nomination with open arms while, at the other end, some Labour MPs think that it is yet another part of the strategy used by the PN to take the wind out of the PL’s sails. Publicly, these people might not have been so open, but privately they have expressed their disagreement, for different reasons.
We will have to wait and see what will happen tonight – that is, how the MPs will be voting – to get a better idea of the ill-feelings that there might be. Whether the House will approve Dr Abela’s nomination unanimously is something that remains to be seen.
What is sure is that Dr Gonzi learnt from the way the people reacted five years ago when, soon after replacing Dr Fenech Adami as Prime Minister and PN leader, he “returned the favour” by nominating Dr Fenech Adami as President of the Republic.
At the time, there had been so much mumbling and grumbling from all quarters that it had been the wrong idea. Today, with the benefit of hindsight, everybody agrees that Dr Fenech Adami was capable of lifting himself above politics and fulfilled the role of the President without ever entering the political fray.
This time round, Dr Gonzi went to the other extreme by picking someone with a past within the Labour Party and, as such, Dr Gonzi will be remembered as the first Prime Minister to have broken away from the tradition of choosing a President of the Republic from the ranks of the party in government.
It would have been much easier for him to look within the PN and find some senior official who would have been capable of taking on the mantle of Head of State. Yet, Dr Gonzi chose to go against the grain and, pre-empting the opposition which was already planning to come up with its own list of candidates, chose the person who only last June contested the post of PL leader against Joseph Muscat.
When, last January, Dr Abela’s nomination had been made public, Dr Gonzi had explained that the country had reached a level of political maturity that opened the way for such a decision to be made. It is, on the whole, a courageous move, one that is intended to bring about more unity in a nation that has been politically divided for too long.
Rightly so, since giving journalists a few comments on the steps of Castille soon after being called by Dr Gonzi to make the nomination official, Dr Abela has kept a low profile because, as he had explained on that day, Dr Fenech Adami was still President.
Tonight, what has been in the offing for the past three months will officially see the light of day, as the House will honour Dr Fenech Adami and thank him for his services, and soon afterwards agree to appoint Dr Abela as President.