Why Anglu Farrugia may end up acting president

With no agreement yet on the next president, Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia could end up acting president after George Vella’s term expires next month. 

So far, talks between Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition leader Bernard Grech on Vella’s replacement have reached an impasse with less than a month to go. 

Vella’s term expires on 4 April and the Constitution says he should remain in office until parliament appoints a replacement. 

However, sources close to the Palace told MaltaToday that Vella, who will be 82 in April, has told close associates that he does not wish to carry on. 

“Given their age, the President and his wife Miriam want to retire to their Żejtun home, which was recently refurbished,” the sources said. 

If the President decides to step down, the Constitution allows the Prime Minister to appoint an acting president after consulting with the Opposition leader. Such a temporary appointment requires no parliamentary vote. 

President George Vella has told close associates that he does not wish to continue in office after his term expires on 4 April

However, if no acting president is appointed, the Constitution says that the functions of the president should be assumed by the Speaker of the House. The post of president cannot remain vacant. 

“It is very unlikely for an acting president to be appointed given the ongoing impasse, which means Anglu Farrugia will assume the functions of president once George Vella’s term is up,” a source privy to the ongoing talks said. He will remain acting president until parliament appoints someone else. 

Farrugia was first appointed Speaker in 2013 and is currently in his third term, making him the longest-serving Speaker. He will continue to serve as Speaker even if he assumes the functions of the president. 

The next president has to be appointed by a two-thirds majority in parliament following a constitutional amendment in 2020. Before then, the resolution appointing the president only needed a simple majority, which meant the government always got its way. 

The Constitution has no anti-deadlock mechanism, which means that with no bi-partisan agreement in place, the appointment of the next president may drag on indefinitely.

Grech shot down Helena Dalli 

Abela and Grech have refrained from commenting publicly on the secret talks but MaltaToday understands that the Prime Minister proposed Helena Dalli. 

Dalli is European Commissioner for equality, a term that will end on 8 June with the European Parliament elections. 

However, Grech shot down her nomination on the basis that she formed part of former prime minister Joseph Muscat’s Cabinet. Dalli was minister between 2013 and 2019. 

The Nationalist Party’s parliamentary group last month agreed to a proposal put forward by Grech that the Opposition would block any individual identified by the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry who shared responsibility for the journalist’s murder. 

The public inquiry had found the State responsible for the assassination and criticised then prime minister Joseph Muscat and his Cabinet for failing to protect those at risk and assuring good governance and the rule of law. 

The PN parliamentary group’s decision to oppose anyone connected to Muscat’s administration was never communicated publicly and news of it first emerged in Times of Malta, which quoted unnamed sources. 

MaltaToday had revealed last year that Grech informed his parliamentary group that he would be putting forward the names of sitting magistrate Joe Mifsud, Caritas official Marica Cassar and former PN minister Dolores Cristina as possible replacements for George Vella. 

Although talks between Abela and Grech have been described as cordial by sources privy to the exchanges, the two leaders have not budged from their respective stands. 

With time running out, Anglu Farrugia could end up shuttling between parliament in Valletta and San Anton Palace in Attard as he fills the dual roles of Speaker and president respectively.