Coleiro Preca endorses Fearne as ‘prime minister Malta needs to heal’

Deputy prime minister Chris Fearne has roped in the endorsement of none other than President emeritus Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, who only last week called for the resignation of “anyone connected to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia”.

Labour veteran Coleira Preca, a one-time secretary-general of the party, was appointed President of the Republic in 2014, after having been social policy minister since Labour’s election in 2013.

Fearne’s endorsement also comes from a former Qormi constituency ‘rival’ to Robert Abela’s father George, himself a former President and one-time Labour deputy leader who resigned in 1998 in protest at the Sant administration’s decision to go for snap elections two years into its embattled legislature.

“I know Fearne as a person whose loyalty to the country and to Labour’s values are considered as his own fundamental values. He works and changes peoples’ lives without much pomp… as a surgeon he has learnt to take urgent decisions in the interest of the patient. This country and this party needs immediate healing. That is why Fearne is the choice for the moment. He understands the pain of those who have given their life to the party… Fearne is the prime minister our country needs now, so that our people can become stronger as a democratic nation built on fundamental rights.”

Last week Coleiro Preca said on the unfolding revelations in the Caruana Galizia assassination probe that Malta’s “dangerous situation could not be permitted to keep dragging on, not even for one more day”

Coleiro Preca, whose term as president ended in April this year, was writing on Facebook on Sunday. “This is the time when politicians have to cast their personal interests aside, and a healing process has to start immediately, led by a person who has the credentials to bring our country out of this crisis,” she said.

The Labour veteran and former social solidarity minister said that the majority of politicians were honest, and that, during these precarious times, the people had to turn to wisdom and critical thinking and choose what is best for Malta.

Coleiro Preca’s comments come after weeks of political turmoil and protests calling for Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s resignation. Muscat has resisted widespread calls to step down immediately, and has instead given 12 January as the date when his successor as Labour Party leader will be elected.