Ican’t shake off the feeling that Social Solidarity Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca wasn’t entirely thrilled with the recent turn of events that will see her occupy the post of Malta’s ninth president. I can well imagine the sort of noises, those of you who are reading this are making. “Duh, you don’t say...”

Yes indeed. That opening line must sound as ingenuous and childlike as someone, who, three minutes from the ending of Love Boat – the cheesy and very predictable 1970s show which romanced us all – is suddenly overcome by a moment of clarity and unravels the simplistic romantic story line which was clear from the minute go. Even before the cruise-liner left port and set sail.

My feelings are purely speculative, to add to the mounting speculation Coleiro-Preca dismissed as just that, earlier last week. I hope I am wrong, even though I am not altogether enchanted by the prospect of her presidency either.

Not because she is not right for the job – I am sure she will inhabit the role with the same chutzpah and dedication she demonstrates in mostly everything she does. I just feel there was much more where that came from; a lot more juice in that lemon, if you like.

And yes, although my mindset might be warped (because the presidency should not be perceived in terms of some shrivelled up, throw-away, past-its-sell-by-date post), the office by its very nature necessitates a withdrawal from the sort of politics which comes naturally and easily to Coleiro Preca.

I’m sure there were several other equally valid female candidates who were not as immediately engaged and who consequently would not leave such a gaping hole behind them, had they been appointed.

Why choose someone who has consistently proven her worth, who is easily the most popular, driven and hardworking minister in your Cabinet? Why choose someone who is still in her political prime or, at any rate, still delivering the goods? Who will need to be replaced and who will be a hard act to replicate to boot? Why indeed?

If body language is anything to go by, there is no love lost or found between Coleiro Preca and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. Hard as they both tried to be diplomatic and gracious on television, when her nomination was announced by Muscat, I definitely detected an underlying tension there. That she has made it clear she will be staying on in her ministry until the very end, ruling out the chance of creating some much needed political space and distance before assuming her new role (if for no other reason than to repackage herself as neutral and apolitical), further reinforced my belief that Coleiro Preca is finding it very hard to let go. Precisely because she doesn’t really want to.

That she is not a yes woman is obvious, which perhaps explains her unswerving political commitment to stay on track and get things done without being waylaid or sidelined by someone else’s agenda. It also intimates a diffidence of sorts, or at least a reluctance to take orders obsequiously.

I like her. And funnily enough, I never really expected to. Let’s just say she was never someone I paid a lot of attention to before. She grew on me during this legislature. She has consistently produced results and made an immediate difference.

I’m talking about concrete results here. It’s all very well (and good) to commission a justice reform report, for instance. But when a year later the system is being run in much the same way it always was, it begins to sound like lip-service and empty rhetoric.

I do think that Coleiro Preca would have been an asset to most in any ministerial portfolio – she possesses the right sort of compassion and a hands-on understanding of humanity that could have made a profound difference in the immigration saga; and her no-nonsense, steamrolling approach might have sorted out a lot of the inertia that plagues the justice system.

She’s like that picture or piece of furniture that used to hang (or sit) perfectly in your home, in one of those very rare instances where you literally find the perfect place for something and there is absolutely nothing more you can do to make it look better. And then one day, in a moment of madness or boredom, you decide to move things around in an attempt to gild the lily. I think I’ve made my point.

If body language is anything to go by, there is no love lost or found between Coleiro Preca and Joseph Muscat

No use crying over spilled milk or presidents now. She’s accepted the nomination because let’s face it, even if you thought you didn’t really want the job and even if you know you’re being kicked upstairs, once it’s offered and there for the taking, it’s a tough one to refuse.

Not just because it guarantees a lifetime of benefits, allowances and perks but because it’s a once-in-a- lifetime experience that stays with you long after it’s gone.

It seems that Coleiro Preca went down fighting and did not assume her now role unconditionally. In an unusual departure from the norm, she will retain much of her portfolio, remaining at the fore-front of the country’s national strategy to fight poverty, with new responsibilities, tools and resources to work with.

Which begs the questions – under what Budget will this activity be financed? Will she really be able to act independently or will she be promoting or in any event, actuating, the government’s social strategy and policies and still ultimately be connected to its purse strings?

That Coleiro Preca continues to work to promote social justice is wonderful in theory, provided that she severs her political umbilical cord, is not subject to the government’s whim or agenda and doesn’t do their bidding. He who pays the piper plays the tune.

It remains to be seen, but the new president certainly does have what it takes to carve out her own niche and a new way of doing politics.

michelaspiteri@gmail.com

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