Presidents 'have residual powers'

Eddie Fenech Adami had told the then President, Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, in 1998 that he did not consider a parliamentary vote on the Vittoriosa Waterfront project to be a vote of no confidence in the Labour government.

The then Prime Minister, Alfred Sant, had turned the Cottonera marina project into a vote of confidence in his government after former Labour leader Dom Mintoff, then a backbencher, fiercely criticised the project. The issue eventually brought down the Labour government.

However, Dr Fenech Adami, who was the Leader of the Opposition, yesterday said he had told Dr Mifsud Bonnici he did not feel the Cottonera issue should be considered as a vote of no-confidence.

The then President shared this feeling, Dr Fenech Adami said, or he would have had to remove Dr Sant as Prime Minister unless he acquired a vote of confidence within three days.

Delivering a lecture in Gozo on the presidency entitled 'The Throne Without The Power' to students of the recently-formed Fortunato Mizzi political school, Dr Fenech Adami said:

"The Prime Minister can say 'I have a vote of no confidence' and advise the President to dissolve parliament. Normally, the President should follow his advice... but the Constitution states that if the President believes there is another person who can command a majority in parliament and it's not in the national interest to dissolve parliament, the President can choose not to follow the Prime Minister's advice."

This was just one of the examples Dr Fenech Adami cited to support his argument that Malta's presidents are not just figureheads without power, but that they have residual powers which can come into force under certain circumstances.

Among them, he said, were cases when the President could decide not to sign an Act.

"It can happen in a number of issues, like bioethics and abortion," he said.

He referred to the case of Belgian King Baudouin I, who in 1990 was temporarily suspended from power after he declared that he could not, in good conscience as a Roman Catholic, sign a new law permitting abortion. The Cabinet had assumed the King's powers and promulgated the law.

"He was an exemplary person with great Christian values," Dr Fenech Adami said.

In an interview with The Times in 2006, Dr Fenech Adami, who stepped down as President last April, had said that if it was a question of morals and principles, he would not sign a law he did not agree with - adding that then he would have to face the consequences.

Dr Fenech Adami was never put in such a position - the Bioethics Consultative Committee presented a final draft of the long-coming law on assisted procreation to Social Policy Minister John Dalli at the end of March, days before Dr Fenech Adami's term was over.

Dr Fenech Adami said that while a President's decision not to follow the Prime Minister's advice could not be examined by a court, presidents could be unseated by a simple parliamentary majority if they were incapable of performing their duties because of mental or physical problems or because of bad behaviour.

"Should you follow the advice of a capricious Prime Minister? If something goes against democracy, Presidents can say no," he said, adding that a President was dutybound to ensure that democracy was upheld.