The President is trying to shirk some responsibility for his speech at the opening of Parliament, which attracted controversy and criticism. Although the President’s speech is actually written by the Prime Minister, like many, I assumed it was the President’s responsibility to consult the Prime Minister and make the necessary changes to the speech if he feels it is a partisan one.

Furthermore, I think that it is the President’s duty, as Head of State, to deliver the speech opening the country’s highest institution, Parliament, and, therefore, this speech should be written by the President himself.

After this incident, many could not help but compare it with President Emeritus Eddie Fenech Adami’s controversial appearance at the Nationalist mass meeting in Floriana on March 7.

However, without wanting to condone the Nationalist side, the former President was speaking as a Nationalist icon and saying what he thought was best for the country’s future, without referring to Labour’s “age of arrogance”, which, I’m sure, he would have had a lot to talk about.