The Malta Independent on Sunday
It is widely expected that tomorrow or in the next few days Dr Fenech Adami will resign as Prime Minister and relinquish his parliamentary seat to make space for PN Leader Dr Gonzi to be anointed as the new Prime Minister and the first Prime Minister of Malta as an EU member.
All indications are that Dr Fenech Adami will then be voted by Parliament as the new President of the Republic once Prof Demarco term ends in the first week of April.
I think that Dr Fenech Adami deserves to be nominated as President of the Republic but not as the next President. God`s grace will give him time and strength to miss a turn and become a President in five year`s time and this if the government and opposition can agree to nominate the next two Presidents by parliamentary consensus.
There are three reasons why I think it is proper for Dr Fenech Adami to take a five year break.` Firstly I think that he showed disrespect to the mandate which was given to him by the electorate less than 12 months ago when he was elected as Prime Minister for a full five year term. Knowing the importance which the personality of the party leader has on the floating voters who generally decide which way elections go, I cannot help feeling that Dr Fenech Adami dented his democratic credentials by not declaring a priori that he did not mean to serve the term or by at least staying for the first half of the term.
Secondly I feel that the election of Dr Fenech Adami as President would raise inevitable implications that it is quid pro quo with his successor for the implied help extended in getting him to the post in preference to the two other contenders who did not raise enough sparkle in Dr Fenech Adami`s eyes.` Such implications, for the sake of Dr Gonzi to be perceived as an effective Prime Minister, should be avoided.
Thirdly I feel that with the PN being in power for over 20 years, almost continuously, it is high time for the strong Labour minority to be offered a gesture to show that it is still considered as part of society by giving Labour` a meaningful say in the choice of the next President. This particularly at a time when the only real effective way forward for the country is through the forging of a social pact that would need the endorsement of the centre left of Malta`s political and union spectrum.
Consequently I feel that it is very much in the national interest for the next President to be chosen either from outside the political sphere or from the left of Maltese politics provided of course he or she is also acceptable to the right and is perceived by the centre liberals as a worthy national figure.
In search of worthy candidates that can meet these criteria I permit myself the indulgence of naming three candidates for potential consideration. In choosing them I exclude all those who are still or have recently been involved in active politics and those that are still outside the venerable pension age on the basis that the post of President needs the maturity that only the third age could bestow.
If we revert to origin and choose as next President a person outside the political sphere, as was indeed the first nominee in the figure of Sir Anthony Mamo, then my choice is clear in the person of Mr Joseph Sammut the Ombudsman. He has proved over a long period of time that he can serve the country faithfully both as a civil servant, climbing up the ranks to the highest post and always earning the trust of the government irrespective of its colours or credentials, as an Ambassador and most recently as the first and so far the only Ombudsman.
In truth it is in this last role that he proved having the credentials for the highest post in the country. The post of the Ombudsman is a very delicate one giving the ordinary citizen some sort of protection against the power of big government and its bureaucracy. The fact that Mr Sammut has been proved time and time again through credible research as the person in office carrying the highest trust of the ordinary citizen, speaks volumes for the dedication with which he has carried his duties and for the unswerving allegiance to defend his mission even at the expense of pulling the ire or displeasure of the executive.
From the left side of Maltese politics the candidates have to be eminently respectable outside their political field, no longer active in party politics, and with a strong track record of high and strong character of keeping allegiance to Labour through their parliamentary vote but showing the courage and high morale to criticise openly where they disagreed with party policies. The person`s c.v. should prove the facility with which he could detach himself/herself from politics proving that he perceived politics as a means to serve and not as a means to obtain and retain power above all other considerations.
In this category I put forward the names of Dr J Micallef Stafrace and Mr Lino Spiteri both victims of the political and religious intolerance of the sixties and both free from guilt of Labour`s excesses of the eighties.
It is widely expected that tomorrow or in the next few days Dr Fenech Adami will resign as Prime Minister and relinquish his parliamentary seat to make space for PN Leader Dr Gonzi to be anointed as the new Prime Minister and the first Prime Minister of Malta as an EU member.
All indications are that Dr Fenech Adami will then be voted by Parliament as the new President of the Republic once Prof Demarco term ends in the first week of April.
I think that Dr Fenech Adami deserves to be nominated as President of the Republic but not as the next President. God`s grace will give him time and strength to miss a turn and become a President in five year`s time and this if the government and opposition can agree to nominate the next two Presidents by parliamentary consensus.
There are three reasons why I think it is proper for Dr Fenech Adami to take a five year break.` Firstly I think that he showed disrespect to the mandate which was given to him by the electorate less than 12 months ago when he was elected as Prime Minister for a full five year term. Knowing the importance which the personality of the party leader has on the floating voters who generally decide which way elections go, I cannot help feeling that Dr Fenech Adami dented his democratic credentials by not declaring a priori that he did not mean to serve the term or by at least staying for the first half of the term.
Secondly I feel that the election of Dr Fenech Adami as President would raise inevitable implications that it is quid pro quo with his successor for the implied help extended in getting him to the post in preference to the two other contenders who did not raise enough sparkle in Dr Fenech Adami`s eyes.` Such implications, for the sake of Dr Gonzi to be perceived as an effective Prime Minister, should be avoided.
Thirdly I feel that with the PN being in power for over 20 years, almost continuously, it is high time for the strong Labour minority to be offered a gesture to show that it is still considered as part of society by giving Labour` a meaningful say in the choice of the next President. This particularly at a time when the only real effective way forward for the country is through the forging of a social pact that would need the endorsement of the centre left of Malta`s political and union spectrum.
Consequently I feel that it is very much in the national interest for the next President to be chosen either from outside the political sphere or from the left of Maltese politics provided of course he or she is also acceptable to the right and is perceived by the centre liberals as a worthy national figure.
In search of worthy candidates that can meet these criteria I permit myself the indulgence of naming three candidates for potential consideration. In choosing them I exclude all those who are still or have recently been involved in active politics and those that are still outside the venerable pension age on the basis that the post of President needs the maturity that only the third age could bestow.
If we revert to origin and choose as next President a person outside the political sphere, as was indeed the first nominee in the figure of Sir Anthony Mamo, then my choice is clear in the person of Mr Joseph Sammut the Ombudsman. He has proved over a long period of time that he can serve the country faithfully both as a civil servant, climbing up the ranks to the highest post and always earning the trust of the government irrespective of its colours or credentials, as an Ambassador and most recently as the first and so far the only Ombudsman.
In truth it is in this last role that he proved having the credentials for the highest post in the country. The post of the Ombudsman is a very delicate one giving the ordinary citizen some sort of protection against the power of big government and its bureaucracy. The fact that Mr Sammut has been proved time and time again through credible research as the person in office carrying the highest trust of the ordinary citizen, speaks volumes for the dedication with which he has carried his duties and for the unswerving allegiance to defend his mission even at the expense of pulling the ire or displeasure of the executive.
From the left side of Maltese politics the candidates have to be eminently respectable outside their political field, no longer active in party politics, and with a strong track record of high and strong character of keeping allegiance to Labour through their parliamentary vote but showing the courage and high morale to criticise openly where they disagreed with party policies. The person`s c.v. should prove the facility with which he could detach himself/herself from politics proving that he perceived politics as a means to serve and not as a means to obtain and retain power above all other considerations.
In this category I put forward the names of Dr J Micallef Stafrace and Mr Lino Spiteri both victims of the political and religious intolerance of the sixties and both free from guilt of Labour`s excesses of the eighties.
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