President should not influence public debate on hot legislation, Spiteri Debono insists

Malta’s new president hints she will not stand in the way of ethically contentious legislation but says she would rather take a step back to avoid influencing public debate.  

“Everyone has ethical red lines,” President Myriam Spiteri Debono said in a first interview with MaltaToday, when asked whether she had any red lines like her predecessor. 

But she cautiously avoided getting into a debate on abortion when specifically asked about the matter. 

Deputy Online Editor Nicole Meilak interviewing President Myriam Spiteri Debono (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

“I think the president needs to be cautious and take a few steps back not to influence public discussions and allow freedom for the public to air its opinions,” she said. 

Her predecessor George Vella made it very clear towards the beginning of his presidency that he had a red line that he would not cross: abortion and other reproductive controversies. When the government tried to pass a Bill introducing abortion under strict circumstances, he threatened to resign and leave the presidential office vacant. The Bill was eventually amended to remove the contentious aspect. 

President Myriam Spiteri Debono and her predecessor George Vella have a chat on the balcony at the Grand Master's Palace in Valletta (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

“I am not in a position to, and I don’t feel that I should judge what his excellency George Vella did,” she said. “Everyone needs to remember that, when you are president, you have a constitutional role, and you are also a citizen with a right to freedom of conscience.” 

Instead, Spiteri Debono insisted that the president must be cautious when draft bills become the topic of hot discussion, and instead take a few steps back not to influence public debate.  

A one-seat majority is hard – more so when it’s Perit Mintoff 

Looking back at her time as Speaker, during the turbulent Labour administration between 1996 and 1998 led by Alfred Sant, Spiteri Debono admitted that there was a lot of heartbreak, particularly from the Labour electorate that felt betrayed. 

“A government with a one-seat majority will suffer many shocks,” she said, noting that the Labour administration at the time was not the only government in Maltese history to hold on to power with just a single seat advantage. 

President Myriam Spiteri Debono waves to the crowd after her swearing in (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

“The honorable Lawrence Gonzi in 2008 didn’t just have one person who went against the Whip’s orders. There was one person, and at one time it seemed as if there were three, and sometimes there were even five people who weren’t agreeing,” she said.  

“This is a situation that creates doubt and instability – but let alone when that person is Perit Mintoff.” 

Daphne, Karin, Raymond 

Looking back at her 2021 speech where she referred to Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder and said Malta must redeem itself, Spiteri Debono explained that she felt at the time the country failed to properly weigh what is morally right and wrong.  

“We dug ourselves into a hole where we no longer recognise that we need values of a certain ethical standard with regards to leadership, the way we treat each other, the way we look at certain grave things – things that should have never happened, like the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia,” she said. 

Myriam Spiteri Debono delivering a speech at the Victory Day commemoration in Valletta in 2021

She recalled how, when Raymond Caruana was killed, the acting president at the time went on state media and made a strong statement. “And we never had closure on those deaths. It’s important that we have closure.” 

“In the case of Raymond Caruana, it was like an act of bravado. There was no indication, or any intention, to kill Raymond or anyone else. But the fact is that, even because of the political situation at the time, the murderers wounded the country.” 

President Myriam Spiteri Debono (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

She went on to add that the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia was different because the protection of the media came into play.  

“I feel that her death was intended […] to shut her up. How can that be? We need closure, and we need to make sure something good comes out from it.” 

The presidency ahead 

When she was first approached to take the presidency, Spiteri Debono felt she had certain qualities that can be used to serve the public. 

“I listen, I have a certain background, political experience in a particularly turbulent time when through consensus between the two parties I was entrusted with leading parliament,” she said. 

President Myriam Spiteri greets people in the capital Valletta (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

She added that her political experience is not strictly partisan. “I always tried to be conscious of people with different political opinions and kept the door open to discuss situations they encounter.” 

As president, Spiteri Debono said she will do her utmost to be correct and shoulder responsibility. “But I’ll let the people judge.”