A Presidential lottery?

In the speech following my election as chairman of Alternattiva Demokratika last June, I had stressed that one of the tasks that AD should set itself is that of contributing meaningfully to the discussion regarding the appointment of a President of the Republic in April. I have always thought that the President should embody the spirit of consensus, a quality which AD has long sought to introduce to Maltese politics.

Why do I think this is important? For a very simple reason. Our country became a republic in 1974. Sir Anthony Mamo had been Governor of Malta since 1971. In 1974, he was elected first President of Malta and he served his term till 1976. From this date onwards, the Maltese parliamentarians elected six other Presidents but, amazingly enough, none of the six managed to garner more than about 51 per cent of the vote of the parliamentarians.

Basically, every President elected for the past 33 years was always a President elected on party lines. When the Labour Party was in government, Anton Buttigieg and Agatha Barbara were elected; when the Nationalist Party was in government Censu Tabone, Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, Guido de Marco and Eddie Fenech Adami were elected. All our Presidents since 1976 have had one thing in common: they all managed to get the vote of the parliamentarians of their party and none of them managed to get a single vote in 33 years of an opposition MP. As can be seen from these records, consensus was sadly lacking.

What is even worse is that a good number of our elected Presidents had then to face the boycott of the opposition MPs following their election. I cannot imagine a single country of the 27 in the EU treating its Presidents in this way. It is unfortunate that partisanship and divisiveness have held sway for so long in a country where compromise and cooperation are so sorely needed.

That is why, for us at AD, it has become imperative that, in April 2009, a President who can cure the deep rifts between politicians of all stripes is appointed. If we want to heal the wounds of the past, if we want the Maltese and Gozitans to truly feel represented by their President, independently of their political allegiance, the election of a national figure who can unite our people is important.

With a view to making a contribution towards the appointment of this symbol of nationhood, last November, after discussion, the AD executive committee identified a potential candidate who, in our view, is a person of national relevance who can unify our people, apart from being highly respected in international circles.

We then wrote to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, the leader of the 35 Nationalist MPs, and to Joseph Muscat, the leader of the 34 Labour MPs, asking for a meeting where we could explain our choice for President. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister has declined to meet us, citing constitutional reasons. The Prime Minister's attitude was deeply disappointing. While it is true that the Constitution obliges the Prime Minister to consult with the opposition when it comes to nominating a President, this does not preclude him from listening to the views of others or consulting with other parties.

Unfortunately, this is the interpretation of Dr Gonzi who, in his refusal to meet with us (or anybody else), has clearly sent out a message that the choice of President remains a closed shop reserved to the 69 MPs. This is a great pity.

The desire of the people to have a say in the choice of President is evident. It is clear that our system of appointing a President has to be changed in order to give more say to the people and to their representatives, maybe even at local council Level. Unfortunately, however, for the next election in April, the old system will prevail and, therefore, I believe that the lottery of names being daily mooted can only be detrimental to the proposed candidates, all very valid persons in their own right.

Getting back to our request for meetings, Dr Muscat and I have already met once in December and we shall meet again this month. The scope of AD is not to have a candidate supported by 51 per cent of the population represented by PL and AD. We have already had our 51 per cent Presidents for the past 33 years. Our aim is to contribute to a President supported by at least 80 per cent of our 69 parliamentarians.

AD has no direct say in the appointment of the President. We are, however, trying our best to contribute to having a unifying figure as President. Whether the 69 parliamentarians will heed our call we do not know. It is up to them to vote.

I sincerely hope that, when they cast their vote, the love for their country prevails over the attachment to their party.

The author is chairman of Alternattiva Demokratika - the Green party.

arnoldcassola@gmail.com, www.arnoldcassola.wordpress.com