The government and the opposition have reached an agreement on the nominations of a new president and acting president, with just a little over a week to go until President George Vella’s term comes to an end.
A joint statement was issued by the Office of the Prime Minister and that of the Leader of the Opposition, which confirmed reports that an agreement had been reached to nominate Notary Miriam Spiteri Debono as President.
Lawyer Francis Zammit Dimech is to be appointed acting President.
The statement said that Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition Leader Bernard Grech reached an agreement on the names earlier on Tuesday, which were later confirmed in the PL and PN’s respective parliamentary groups in the afternoon.
Parliament is set to vote on appointing Malta’s new president on Wednesday, March 27, eight days before President Vella’s term comes to an end.
Pressure has been mounting for parliament to pick Vella's successor, with reports earlier in March indicating that the government and opposition had barely met and discussed the issue and that, with less than a month to go, discussions had stalled.
This was further compounded by reports that the PN's parliamentary group had vowed to veto any picks that emerged from Joseph Muscat's 2017 cabinet, including Helena Dalli and Evarist Bartolo.
Following changes to Malta's constitution in 2020, Parliament can no longer appoint the President with a simple majority and needs at least two-thirds of the House to vote in favour of the nomination.
The government, therefore, could not forge ahead with a nomination without the PN's support.
Miriam Spiteri Debono
Spiteri Debono is a former Speaker of the House of Representatives and thus far has been the only woman in Malta’s history to occupy the role.
She was born, raised and received a primary education in Gozo.
She later read for a degree in English Literature and Linguistics from the University of Malta and eventually also graduated as a Notary Public.
Spiteri Debono has served as chair of the Cooperatives Board and was one of the first members of the Gender Equality Commission when the body was first founded.
She has in the past stood as a candidate for the Labour Party and served as president of the party’s Women’s League.
Francis Zammit Dimech
Zammit Dimech is a lawyer by profession and has a long history of political activity within the Nationalist Party. He served as an MP between 1987 and 2017 and as an MEP from 2017 to 2019.
During the PN’s tenure in government, he held several ministerial portfolios, including for Transport, Environment, Infrastructure, Tourism and Foreign Affairs.