President George Vella, accompanied by Mrs Miriam Vella, left Malta early this morning for the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony which will be held in Birmingham in the United Kingdom, the Department of Information said Wednesday.
Vella's departure from Malta is set to pave the way for the signing of the IVF bill into law by Professor Frank Bezzina, who will serve as Acting President of Malta.
Vella has refused to put his name to the bill, saying when asked that "it will be signed" but not indicating by whom. Vella has expressed his reservations on the law.
According to the Constitution, the President has to sign a bill into law without delay, but three weeks have passed since Parliament approved the law.
Among their engagements in Birmingham, the President and Mrs Vella have a meeting with the 29 athletes who will represent Malta and are also expected to attend some of the training sessions of the Maltese athletes.
During the four-day visit to the United Kingdom, the President and Mrs Vella will be visiting a hospital in Oxford where Maltese patients are admitted for treatment.
Their engagements will continue in London where they will be visiting the patients and their relatives residing at the apartments of the Puttinu Cares Foundation and with the Franciscan Sisters. In London, President Vella will also meet with Maltese consultants practising their profession in hospitals there.
The President and Mrs Vella will return to Malta on the night between Sunday, 31st July, and Monday, 1st August.