The man behind the throne

As a student of the Skola Politika Fortunato Mizzi, the political school just established by the Nationalist Party in Gozo, I was truly honoured to attend the sixth session of the course. After having had lectures by various politicians and exponents that have shaped Malta's recent politics such as President Emeritus Guido de Marco, I was looking forward to the lecture by Eddie Fenech Adami. Students of the school and also the public were given the unique opportunity to attend this lecture by Dr Fenech Adami exactly three months after the end of his five-year term as President of Malta.

Dr Fenech Adami has been on the Maltese political scene since 1961 when he was a member of the Nationalist Party's executive committee. He entered Parliament in 1969. From then on, he never looked back. In 1977, he became the PN's leader after a keenly-contested party leader election. He served as the PN's party leader until 2004. He stepped down at 70 years of age and, after having fulfilled his main goal: leading the country to full membership of the European Union. After all these years as Prime Minister, he was appointed President of the Republic.

Thanks to this lecture, Dr Fenech Adami came out of his "hibernation". He used this word because, three months ago, he had pledged himself and the nation that he was retiring from public life. However, he was persuaded to come back when the lecture was announced.

The lecture's title was The Throne Without Power. In his own words, the title of the lecture was "provocative" and provided food for thought. Dr Fenech Adami said that, maybe, that was how the people judged the Presidency. It was a misjudgement of the role of the President.

He first spoke on the symbolism of the throne. It was something of the past. He referred to the various thrones in Malta and then went into history, opening a historical bracket. He asked: Is it true that the throne is without power? This led him to the debate leading to independence.

Dr Fenech Adami spoke on the divergent ideas of the main political parties present on the Maltese political scene at the time. The main two poles were either for independence or for retaining the monarchy, in other words, either go for a constitutional monarchy or else become a republic. This was a very important decision for Malta.

So that the country could have a smooth transition from a colony to an independent state, it was decided that Malta should temporarily become a constitutional monarchy embedded within the Commonwealth. Subsequently, 10 years later, in 1974, Malta was proclaimed a republic and the President became the head of state.

The President symbolises the nation and the identity of the people. Dr Fenech Adami said he firmly believed in the function of the President and its role. In fact, his main goal during his five-year Presidential term was to visit all the localities around the islands and get to know better the communities and the work that is done within the numerous voluntary organisations, some of which he had never heard of before.

Another facet of a President's life is state visits to other countries and state visits by various Presidents to Malta. In his own words, such state visits enhance the relationship between the two states and also demonstrate the true potential of the Maltese islands. In fact, when foreign leaders come to Malta they remain astonished with what they discover.

He kept insisting that the President is not only a figurehead. The President has "residual powers" invested in him to safeguard democracy in the country. Dr Fenech Adami explained the President's functions within the executive, the legislative and the judiciary.

He cited numerous articles in the Constitution that invest the President with such powers.

After the lecture, a question-and-answer session was held. Most of the questions asked revolved around the various positions he held in politics especially his days as Prime Minister.

He was asked to choose a positive and a negative event in his carrier. Without hesitation he said that seeing Malta entrenched in the EU was his dream come true. On a negative note, the brutal killing of Raymond Caruana was the moment when he did not know what to do.

One of the last questions posed to Dr Fenech Adami was on his autobiography. Determined and sharp as ever, he replied that he would not compile his autobiography. However, he said there are numerous projects in the pipeline that would surely go down well with the public.

Hopefully, Dr Fenech Adami will continue to give his contribution to Malta because, in my opinion, he still has a lot to offer to this country of ours.