The President of Malta George Vella today announced that a conference on Malta’s national unity will be organised on 27 February at the Verdala Palace.

The conference follows Vella’s word of honour taken in his April 2019 speech upon his appointment, to strengthen the unity in this country.

The aim of this conference is to the discuss varied topics and raise some awareness on whether Malta and its citizens are united as a country. The conference will address the lack of unity and ask pertinent questions on what the causes are of this lack, and what can be done to address certain issues.

President Vella strongly stated that this conference is to be kept away from partisan politics as there needs to be a far-reaching discussion on this matter and give the public an opportunity to freely have a voice.

The panellists who will lead this conference include Professor Simone Borg, Faculty of Social Wellbeing Professor Andrew Azzopardi, former PBS head of news Reno Bugeja, Professor Carmen Sammut, writer Aleks Farrugi and Malta Chamber of Commerce President David Xuereb. These are people who have touched various walks of life and are determined to bring the good out of this initiative.

“Although the pandemic has brought about many negative repercussions, it has also forced the Maltese to reflect upon certain issues and unite. This unity and solidarity are seen from the way people come together to support those who have been hit by the virus, the way people respect medical frontliners, and it has also allowed people to realise how important foreign workers are for this country,” Vella said.

Due to the broad topic, the conference will address many aspects including how Maltese people feel with regards to how they are represented by Maltese symbols, the concept of a nation, how strong our sense of nation is, what does Malta as a country mean to us as citizens, how much do citizens feel represented by institutions, the role of media, especially social media, and so on.

Vella expressed that he would wish to see less abuse occurring on social media as some of the comments and content that is posted, definitely does not contribute to national unity.

Due to the pandemic, the conference will be held with a limit of 40 people who can attend. Those who are interested to physically attend at the Verdala Palace are to send an email to [email protected], at a first come first serve basis. Those who do not manage, will still be able to follow on Facebook live, on the social media of the presidency.

The public will be given the opportunity to comment while the discussions are taking place.