10 Aug Is Marie Louise Coleiro Preca the luckiest woman on earth, or is she?
Some time ago when I wrote about Coleiro Preca’s Presidential nomination, I said that kicking her upstairs, no matter how prestigious San Anton is perceived to be, would be a disservice to her and to the country.
My reasoning was based on the fact that unlike other Presidents before her, who with the exception of Agatha Barbara all happened to be male, Preca is right at the peak of her political career, she is the most popular Minister in Cabinet, and in order to take up the Presidential seat she would have to give all that up.
Preca’s conundrum reminded me of every woman’s situation where no matter how many family-friendly measures are introduced, and no matter how long we harp about women’s rightful place in the workforce, to this day women still have to choose between family and work, and no matter how we sugarcoat it, for the time being, there’s absolutely no going around it.
I don’t know about you but, I’ve never met a man whose worried about juggling family life and his career; I’ve never met a man who’s feeling guilty about having to leave his sick children with grand parents because he’s run out of leave days, and I’ve never met a man whose been asked about his procreating prospects during a job interview. Of course, just because I haven’t met them doesn’t mean that they don’t exist, but it’s probably safe to say that compared to the many women who find themselves in such situations, the men are few and far between.
Next week, Coleiro Preca will be sworn in as Malta’s 9th President, and after the longwinded ceremonies the first thing on her table will be the highly controversial Civil Union’s Bill, which, it has now transpired that outgoing President George Abela has been unwilling to sign for weeks.
Let’s not forget that when Abela had a couple of years left in the presidency, he willingly signed the Divorce Bill, which, as we all know, drives a permanent legal separation between people who don’t want to be together anymore. A few months down the line, now with only a few weeks left in the presidency, the same man can’t bring himself to sign a bill that creates a permanent and legal bond between two people who want to be together, usually against many odds.
The mind boggles when logic defies, but how lucky is this situation for Coleiro Preca?
If I were her public relations manager I’d be doing a little dance of joy to celebrate my good luck. In fact, this turn of events is so good for her image that I’m suspecting that it was all planned. Of course it’s a long shot to imagine that George Abela would be ready to be a sacrificial lamb just to make his successor look good, but when it comes to politics with a small ‘p’, nothing surprises me anymore.
What makes me even more suspicious is that it’s not only Coleiro Preca who will benefit from this move, but also, and probably even more likely, the Prime Minister.
Bear with me as I take you through the steps of this incredible fluke of luck will you? So first the Prime Minister promises Civil Unions as part of his electoral mandate. Soon enough the Nationalist Party neutralize this perceived advantage by pretending to agree with it. Once elected into Government, the PM is faced with unreasonable opposition against the bill but, push and shove, the bill makes it through. There’s then a mysterious delay in the signing of said bill, and attention is quickly diverted on to the PM’s new Presidential candidate. The new candidate, Coleiro Preca, is famous for her stance against divorce and many think that she might be too conservative to sign the now infamous Civil Unions bill. As the waters settle about the new nomination it is leaked to the press that it is in fact the incumbent President, chosen by the previous administration, who is refusing to sign the bill, and almost on cue, (drum rolls please), Muscat’s ‘chosen one’ comes in to save the day.
The PM had somewhat of a hard time convincing both sides of Parliament that Coleiro Preca’s Presidency would not mean a loss for the country, in fact for what seems like the first time in history the PM had to ‘open up’ the President’s role, first to convince Coleiro Preca herself, and then to convince the people.
We were told that this President (indirectly contrasting her to the others before her) will not be powerless and just a decorative addition to the state’s hierarchy. And to prove this the PM made her head of the National Strategy against Poverty, the food aid programme, the National Forum for the Family, the National Commission for the Family, the National Commission for Development and Children Strategy, the Commission against Domestic Violence, the Commission against substance abuse and the National Prevention Agency.
But let’s face it, whilst an outspoken and involved President will definitely help in providing direction and will surely encourage much needed discussion, the final say remains with Cabinet Ministers – a power Preca is giving up lock stock and barrel in order to take up residence at San Anton.
According to our Constitution, our President is bound by law to ‘act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet,’ and if a President refuses to enact a Bill into law, after Cabinet has approved it, it does not become law unless the President resigns gracefully or is not so gracefully removed. And though removing a President is an easy procedure, at least when compared to for example the impeachment of a judge, I can understand why at this point Joseph Muscat decided to wait it out rather than to go full blown head-on.
What I cannot help but wonder however, is whether Abela would have been this bold had the Civil Union’s Bill landed on his desk more than a few weeks before his tenure was up, and how much his meeting with the Pope last week had to do with his decision not to sign a bill that brings people together.
First published on The Malta Independent on Sunday in March 2014
