Myriam Spiteri Debono has taken the Oath of Office to become the country’s 11th President, as George Vella’s five-year Presidential term came to an end on Thursday afternoon.
On 27 March this year, Parliament unanimously approved her nomination to the post. During the Parliamentary session, Prime Minister Robert Abela had described it as a historic day, as it was the first time that a constitutional reform implemented in 2020 was used.
Under this reform, the President of the Republic had to be approved by a two-thirds majority of Parliament, meaning that cross-party consensus was necessary. Previously, only a simple majority was required. This meant that – while the last three Presidents all had unanimous backing of Parliament anyway – the government of the day could choose whoever it liked as President without any consequence.
Both Abela and Opposition Leader Bernard Grech praised Spiteri Debono before the vote was taken. “She is a person who has never feared progress,” Abela said of Spiteri Debono. He noted how she had always opened her doors to students for placements in order to qualify as notaries, and was a good teacher, and a kind-hearted person who helped the vulnerable even by providing services for free. “I have no doubt that her Presidency will be a point of reference, as was her work for the emancipation of women. She helped everyone, but more so women in a vulnerable situation,” Abela said.
Grech had quoted part of Spiteri Debono’s speech in 2021 on the occasion of Victory Day: “We must redeem ourselves anew. We need to come together, as we have in the past, to make necessary changes, some of which we've already started to make.” He said that these are words which, as soon as he heard them, he thought to himself that she has the qualities – “even because I knew of her integrity, precision and studiousness – to serve in a high position of authority as approved by this Parliament.” He said: “She has empathy, knows how to love by helping, by teaching, and by listening. So I augur that those words which she said less than three years ago mean she will be the President to help us redeem ourselves again… that she can be the person to unite us.”
A notary by profession, Spiteri Debono served as Malta’s first woman Speaker during the Alfred Sant administration between 1996 and 1998.
Today’s ceremony started with a mass at St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, celebrated by Archbishop Charles Scicluna at 10am.
Spiteri Debono then made her way to the Grand Master’s Palace in St George’s Square. The general public was invited to greet the President on her way to St George’s Square, but the attendance on the day was quite low.
She officially took the Oath of Office at 12.20pm in a special parliamentary session held in the Throne Room at the Grandmaster's Palace, following which she will deliver her first address as President of Malta. Afterwards, she will greet the public from the Palace balcony.
The new President, alongside Prime Minister Robert Abela and their respective spouses, will then walk into St George’s Square. She will inspect the Honour Guard and be given a national salute, during which time a flypast will be conducted by the Armed Forces of Malta Air Squadron.
The ceremony will come to an end with the new President laying a wreath of flowers at the foot of the War Monument, and the new President’s entrance to San Anton Palace.