Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca gives her final speech as MP. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

President-elect Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca yesterday told Parliament that she aimed to serve as a “catalyst for national unity”.

Delivering her last speech as an MP before she was unanimously voted in as the ninth President of Malta – and the second woman to hold the office – Ms Coleiro Preca said it was the most difficult speech of her 16 years in Parliament. (She had delivered her maiden speech on October 28, 1998).

On her last day as Social Solidarity Minister, she said the Maltese people were compassionate and tolerant; yet in certain instances they acted otherwise.

People should understand and tolerate each other. While one may disagree with what the other had to say, one should be able to criticise constructively and respect the other person.

Ms Coleiro Preca appealed to the Maltese people to respect diversity while noting that globalisation was not only economic but also brought about social change, in that people of different nationalities came to the country.

Let the children be heard!

One should appreciate diversity. People had to understand that not everyone was Roman Catholic. “We have to look at what unites us,” she said.

She thanked Prime Minister Joseph Muscat for having given her the opportunity to bring forward the “love of her life – social services”.

She hoped she had put in place “a good foundation for success”.

The social sector, she said, was so complex that it had developed sub-specialties.

The sector had to be given priority and students needed to be given incentives to take up professions in this field, such as those of counsellors and psychologists.

Turning to children, the President-elect said they were able to define poverty in one sentence, something which adults were unable to do.

Children sought a better environment, more time to spend with their parents and more time to play. They were also able to speak on issues such as housing and social inclusion.

Children who were receiving out-of-home care said that the system did not give them a voice. She thanked the National Commission for Children, headed by Ruth Farrugia, for acting as the voice of children.

Children who were placed under a care order were sometimes given the wrong information, she said, recalling an incident in which a girl who was taken away from school was told she would be taken to the seaside.

I have always loved my country and now I am able to act for all the Maltese

Another girl said that she found herself in an orphanage without having been told beforehand. Some children who wanted to say goodbye to their parents were not given the opportunity.

Getting emotional, she said: “Politicians should listen to children and should not fear changing the system! Let them be heard!”

She had the honour to present the first reading of the Children Protection Act, through which children would be listened to and given full rights.

She also thanked the Prime Minister for tackling the issue of unaccompanied minor ill­­­egal migrants.

While certain children were placed in open centres, some said they were sexually harassed and offered money for prostitution.

Politicians should consider these children as if they were their own. “If such a thing happened to my daughter, I would not act reasonably,” she warned.

She appealed to the Maltese Parliament to join forces and tell the EU that while Malta sought to give the best possible services to unaccompanied minors, it was not able to do so on its own as the government did not have enough resources.

Ms Coleiro Preca expressed her gratitude to fellow Members of Parliament for having trusted her with the presidency and assured everyone that she would act above politics.

“I have always loved my country and now I am able to act for all the Maltese,” she said.

She also reserved thanks for Parliamentary Secretary Franco Mercieca, members of his secretariat and personnel in her ministry who, she said, rose to the occasion on several instances.

She thanked Opposition leader Simon Busuttil and members of the Opposition for trusting her with such a great responsibility.

Earlier, Ms Coleiro Preca thanked the people of the sixth district for having elected her to Parliament and for having enabled her to act as the voice of all the Maltese people.

On ending her speech, Ms Coleiro Preca tendered her resignation as a minister and MP through a letter she presented to Acting Speaker Ċensu Galea.