Spiteri Debono unanimously approved as next president
Francis Zammit Dimech will be acting president
Notary Myriam Spiteri Debono will be Malta’s next president after parliament unanimously approved her nomination yesterday.
MPs banged on their desks as the speaker read out the 75-0 vote in favour of her nomination.
Spiteri Debono will assume the role of Malta’s 11th President of the Republic on April 4, succeeding George Vella.
Spiteri Debono will be Malta’s third woman president, after Agatha Barbara and Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca. She will also be Malta’s third Gozitan president, after Anton Buttigieg and Ċensu Tabone.
Former Nationalist MP Francis Zammit Dimech will be acting president in her absence, following a deal struck between Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition Leader Bernard Grech.
A notary by profession, Spiteri Debono was a Labour activist and electoral candidate in the 1980s and 1990s. She served as the first, and so far, the only woman speaker of parliament from 1996 to 1998 during Alfred Sant’s tenure.
Spiteri Debono was born, raised and received a primary education in Gozo. She went on to read for a degree in English literature and linguistics from the University of Malta and, eventually, also graduated as a notary public.
She also 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.
Spiteri Debono also served as president of the Labour Party’s Women’s League.
The PN had nominated Spiteri Debono for the standards commissioner position back in January 2023 but she had said at the time that she was not interested in the post.
During a Victory Day speech in September 2021, Spiteri Debono paid tribute to the murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, calling on the nation to “redeem ourselves anew” and commit to the necessary reforms in the wake of the assassination.
Spiteri Debono, 71, will be the first president to be appointed following the 2020 constitutional reform on the nomination of the president.
Following this reform, parliament can no longer appoint the president with a simple
majority but needs at least twothirds of the House to vote in favour of the nomination.
Spiteri Debono was the unanimous choice of the House and that was reflected in the motion tabled to nominate her. The motion was submitted by the prime minister and seconded by the leader of the opposition.
Abela recalled his time working with Spiteri Debono and praised her for her composure during her time as parliamentary speaker.
“Despite her time as speaker during a political period which was not easy, she would say what she had to say but she always got her message across strongly and respectably,” he said.
He said that, due to her notary background, she has a strong understanding of the constitution and would be “safeguarding” it as president.
He also described her as a person who was never afraid of progress and always sought change.
Apart from this, Abela went into detail about how, even outside of politics, Spiteri Debono was always ready to “open her door and help others”. He described Spiteri Debono as a “voice of equality” and said that she also helped women who were in a vulnerable situation. “She was never one to seek the limelight, or who liked to hear her voice all the time, but what she had to say was said and said with elegance.”
On his part, Grech quoted a part of Spiteri Debono’s 2021 Victory Day speech and recalled how, that day, he thought that she had the qualities to serve in high office.
“She is an empathetic person, one who is always ready to help, who loves to help through teaching and listening to others,” Grech said.
He said that he believed Spiteri Debono would prove to be a president who helped Malta move forward and bring people together.
He also thanked the prime minister for the three meetings they had to discuss the nomination.
European Parliament president Roberta Metsola took to social media to congratulate both Spiteri Debono and Zammit Dimech.
“Two people who worked in the interest of Malta and Gozo in their public life,” she said.
“As a young woman who was interested in politics, I remember following Myriam Spiteri Debono in her role as Speaker of Parliament. Her sense of calm and maturity were crucial in that turbulent time in the Maltese Parliament. I know Francis more intimately. A friend, who is genuine and who loves his country. For us youths, he was a beacon of how politicians should be.”
She said both are beacons of a political class who work with correctness.
In a statement ahead of her appointment, NGO Repubblika congratulated Spiteri Debono and expressed their appreciation for parliament’s consensus on such a decision.
“Although too often our politics lacks maturity and the pursuit of the national interest, the appointment of Myriam Spiteri Debono is an episode that gives us hope,” the statement read.
“Myriam Spiteri Debono has served with loyalty and decency in public life and we strongly believe that this appointment will continue to reflect these values of her career.”
Repubblika also mentioned her speech on Caruana Galizia back in 2021 and recalled she had appealed for journalists’ work to be respected as journalism was the fourth pillar of democracy.
This, Repubblika said, was a rare, if not unique, recognition in context of an official State ceremony.
“We assure Myriam Spiteri Debono of our support in her new mission.”