National unity has fallen flat on its face on too many occasions. This is the reason why I reject the notion that the role of the President of the Republic of Malta symbolises national unity. The President of Malta is the Head of State representing the nation. National unity is the responsibility of each and everyone one of us. It is even more so the responsibility of those shouldering public leadership posts. This is certainly not exclusive to those in the political arena. It is inevitable that controversies arise fromdiverging points of view, implementation, methodologies and many other issues. It is not rare that mud-slinging and deceitful manoeuvres come easy to hand, mouth or pen to divert attention from the real substance of such issues. This does not help national unity one iota, yet such manoeuvres are often used. Some debates in Parliament are a case in point.
Institutions and organisations are duty bound to express the views of their members and followers. All play an important role in the shaping of our society. The church teaches values, economic players promote business and economic activities, trade unions work to improve working conditions and the quality of life, environmentalists labour to protect our environment and the list goes on and on. But then there are other small interest groups. These groupings generally have very particular objectives. Nonetheless, this is the impressive and challenging mosaic of our society. As one would assume, a very fine line brings all together though conflict between the various stakeholders is not rare and far between.During the passage of time we have experienced many decisions which at times have brought unnecessary hardship to many and havedivided our societygenerally into two large groupings and other splinter groups.
Last Friday many have followed,with different emotions and perceptions,the rather lengthy inaugural ceremony during which an emotional Marie-Louise ColeiroPreca took the oath of office as President of Malta. President ColeiroPrecais the ninth President of the Republic of Malta and the second female President in the 40 years since Malta became a Republic. Ms. Agatha Barbara was called to fulfil the duties of President in the highly charged and politically turbulent years between 1982 and 1987. Both Presidents were nominated by the PartitLaburista.
The term of this Presidencywill come to an end in April 2019. During these coming five years Malta will host a wide range of international conferences and activities which should improve Malta’s visibility, image and credentials within international circles. The Head of the State will play a leading role in these activities and much depends on her.
The support mastered by PresidentColeiroPreca, a former PL front-line Minister and activist,particularly in her constituents’ catchment localities is evident. Her determination and successes were crowned with the Presidency of Malta. Though her new duties are nowhere near to her previous political ones, she may still be able to loosen some of the nuts and bolts which, over a long span of time, have not only corroded but have become unconnected with the needs of today’s society.
The fact that the Nationalist Party has supported Mrs ColeiroPreca’s nomination makes it a first,notwithstanding that the level of consultation between Government and the Opposition is claimed to have been poor and very limited. This Opposition’s support is an expression of national unity. However, this also sends an important message to President ColeiroPreca and to society.
The meaning of ‘consultation’ has for many years and on different occasions been the cause for unwarranted misunderstanding and disagreement in the political, social and economic spheres. From my experience, consultation should be interpreted to mean an exchange of views betweenthe different parties involved. In the political scenario, consultation should mean that, after a thorough and meaningful exchange of views and deliberations,government wouldultimately have the last word. The parties involved will have to carry the responsibility of their decision in the event that no agreement is reached. In the case of President ColeiroPreca’s nomination, this seems not to have been the case.
On the other hand, the meaning of ‘information’ is clear enough. To put it be crudely, a letter from the Prime Minister to the Leader of the Opposition would have sufficed. The Opposition would have been duly informed. However, in the best interest of national unity, this course of action is hardly commendable and a formal invitation for a courtesy meeting before a nomination is made public would better serve national unity.
What came as no surprise were the repeated appeals and pledges of the new President. She made it amply clear that she would be representing the whole nation, irrespective of the many differences one may think of. She even went a step further and claimed that she wants to become a strong voice for the less privileged and those who for different reasons live and lead a life on the peripherals of our society. A fitting superlative describing her initial comments would be ‘commendable’. There must be other superlatives for her initial statements. However, notwithstanding the many good intentions, I still maintain that people in need should not be subjected to further suffering by being made to publicly share their already difficult situations.
I strongly feel that it is the role of the state to ensure that peoplestruggling with difficulties for whichever reasons should be assisted either in cash or in kind from a social security fund administered by an independent multi-disciplinary team. People in need should not depend on charity, but on solidarity. Time has come to properly define between the two.
I take this opportunity to wish President ColeiroPreca success in her new apolitical appointment.
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