When George Vella was sworn in as president five years ago, he hardly imagined the tumultuous period ahead. Mark Laurence Zammit explores the successes and failures of his time in office.

A constitution reform that never happened

Four months into his appointment as president, George Vella launched a public consultation to start a constitutional reform process. While the process was initiated by previous presidencies, Vella said it was now being given priority so that the constitution may be revised to better reflect the times.

The announcement raised hopes that Vella could be the man to see the crucial reform through, which is why it felt equally disappointing for many when during his final Republic Day address last December – by which point no tangible progress was recorded in more than four years – he claimed he was “prevented” from furthering his work on the reform.

He said his desire to hold a convention – a body that would make recommendations to parliament – could not go ahead because there was no willingness to agree on who should lead it.

Civil unrest and a pandemic

Vella inherited a country that was still reeling from the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The heightened political tensions towards the end of 2019 followed by the civil unrest that led to the resignation of Joseph Muscat as prime minister could not have helped him focus on constitutional reform.

The breakout of a once-in-a-century, deadly, global pandemic a few months later did him no favours either, not least because Vella himself was at an age that put him among those deemed most vulnerable.

Public policy lecturer Mario Thomas Vassallo said partial lockdowns and strict restrictions “completely disrupted the useful work that was being carried out on the reform”.

“After the pandemic, it seems the political forces lost all appetite to pick up where they had left,” he wrote in a new book titled ‘George Vella – il-President li għandu ħafna xi jgħid’ (George Vella – The President who has a lot to say). The book is compiled and edited by Andrew Azzopardi and was published earlier this month.

Trouble in the PN

Despite most of the focus being on government, the opposition had its own internal storms brewing, in a situation that ended at Vella’s feet.

In July 2020, amid heightened internal conflict in the PN, more than half of the opposition MPs went to Vella to tell him they had lost confidence in party leader Adrian Delia and asked him to remove him.

After a tense couple of days, Vella decided he would not grant them their wish, despite the fact that it was clear Delia did not enjoy support from most of his MPs.

Vella had said if Delia were to be stripped of the position, the question over who should take his place would be immediately raised. The constitution, he argued, outlined that there has to be a leader of the opposition at all times.

When contacted this week, strategic communications consultant Lou Bondi, who worked closely with Vella, said that during his tenure, “the ship of state faced a series of punishing political gales. Yet he [Vella] carried himself with aplomb and effectiveness despite the limits to his actions imposed on him by the post. The captain conveyed a much-needed serenity to us the crew.”

Changing laws despite having no power to do so

Vella knew there was little he could effectively do from the golden throne of the country’s highest office, and he would often use his public speeches to stress his constitutional limits, but that did not keep him from sounding the alarm on several laws he was not comfortable with, and in at least one case, he was instrumental in drastically changing a law.

Last week, the prime minister told parliament Vella had reservations on the recreational cannabis law and the IVF and abortion laws. But party insiders and sources close to the president had said that while in some instances Vella only expressed small doubts, in others – as was in the case of the abortion law – he made it clear he would not sign the law and would choose to resign. This forced the government to go back to the drawing board and drastically amend the wording of the amendment to avoid the embarrassment.

“Months earlier, Vella had already signalled that as a Christian doctor and citizen, his conscience was non-negotiable, when he expressed doubts on the latest IVF law amendments,” Vassallo said.

“Back then, when the law was approved in parliament, Vella was abroad and the new bill was signed into law by the acting president. Many probably judged this behaviour cynically but the president sent a strong message to parliament and the executive about matters on which he believes his position requires moral judgement.”

Maltese language and the state of the nation

What Vella failed to do in constitutional reform, he did in language awareness. His presidency saw him launch a campaign for the protection and better use of Maltese, during which he – often controversially – urged Maltese people to use Maltese words instead of adopting too many words with Anglo-influences.

Together with leading statistician Vince Marmarà and Lou Bondi, Vella also endorsed a national, longitudinal study on the changing trends of people’s attitudes and beliefs towards politics, religion, family life, and the economy.

“These three years were a pleasure, enlightening and an honour to work with him,” Bondi said. Beyond his “obvious integrity, honesty and deeply principled character, his demeanour, his very being steadfastly impart a sense of state, particularly in the details”. He said the country was lucky to have him appointed at the right place and time “when this sense was more vital than ever”.

Sense of humour and getting emotional

Like his predecessors, Vella carried his duty as the country’s fundraiser-in-chief by organising the yearly telethon L-Istrina, for which he worked closely with journalist, television host and telethon founder Peppi Azzopardi.

Azzopardi said Vella is not recognised well enough for his sense of humour and his emotional side.

“Before I got to know him, I also never imagined he was as emotional as he is. When he visited cancer patients in hospitals, he would become teary-eyed on air,” Azzopardi said.

Azzopardi also described Vella as a man of the people.

“Just look at where he came from. He was a village doctor who cared for the poorest and most vulnerable patients, and he often examined them free of charge.

“I also see him as a man of great principle. When he went abroad to avoid signing the IVF law, he wasn’t being a coward – he was making sure he is still around when he anticipated the abortion law would be pushed through parliament. He did not want to resign over the IVF law, knowing his resignation warning would be far more needed a few months down the line,” Azzopardi said.

Azzopardi said he was also impressed by Vella’s interest in the events he would be invited to.

“Every time I was invited to address a conference during which he was invited to speak, he would show up at the beginning of the event and sit there and listen through all the speakers till the end, often even taking notes,” he said.

“It’s not very common for politicians to do that. Most of them show up for their speech and then leave. But not him. He was interested in what others had to say.”