Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca was formally declared Malta’s ninth President yesterday evening, as widely expected, and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said she would stand out for her “social agenda”.

In an unprecedented move in Malta’s 40 years as a republic, the President will not be limited to serving as guardian of the Constitution and head of the Commission for the Administration of Justice.

But Ms Coleiro Preca, the Social Policy Minister, will as President remain in charge of the national strategy against poverty and retain responsibility for a host of commissions that currently fall within her remit.

In her first comments during a joint press conference with the Prime Minister, she said she was flattered by her nomination as the next Head of State.

“I never aspired to this and it never crossed my mind that I might become President. I am not somebody fond of cere­monial poses,” she said, adding however that she was looking forward to being “a catalyst” for unity in the country.

The Prime Minister’s ann­ounce­ment was made about an hour after a 10-minute meeting with Opposition leader Simon Busuttil who was summoned to Castille to be informed about the nomination in the afternoon.

Rather than consulting with the Opposition, as laid down in the Constitution, Dr Muscat presented him with a fait accompli, Dr Busuttil told this newspaper later.

He said the Opposition would debate whether to support Ms Coleiro Preca’s nomination after discussing the matter within the parliamentary group.

The Prime Minister rebuffed his criticism, saying he had followed the same procedure adopted by his predecessors. Before yesterday he had also raised the issue with the Opposition leader in a meeting held on January 9, he said.

Ms Coleiro Preca’s political career stretches back to the days of Dom Mintoff, when she served as Labour Party secretary general between 1981 and 1992.

President a ‘role model for younger generation’

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat congratulates Ms Coleiro Preca.

She will be the youngest ever President and also the second woman to occupy the post since Agatha Barbara, with Dr Muscat saying she would be a role model for the younger generations and conveyed a strong message in favour of equality.

Asked by Times of Malta about reports that she was initially very reluctant to accept the nomination, Ms Coleiro Preca said “these were just details and speculation”.

When asked, Dr Muscat denied there was any “deal” allowing her to keep some of her ministerial duties as a way of persuading her to take up the post.

The government has lost a great minister but the country has won a great President

Ms Coleiro Preca thanked all those close to her for their support but remarked that “nobody is going to lose me as I will still remain close to the people”.

In her first message, she urged the people to be more active in the voluntary sector for the common good.

She denied reports claiming she would be reluctant to sign the civil unions Bill, saying the government had a mandate to enact this legislation. Dr Muscat was full of praise for one of the senior members of his Cabinet: “The government has lost a great minister but the country has won a great President.”

At any moment, he said, the government had the right to request the President to give priority to a particular agenda of national importance.

“In this regard we are asking Ms Coleiro Preca to be the social soul of the country and a reference point”.

He had wanted to break the mould and move away from the norm of nominating a male politician hailing from the legal profession who was approaching retirement from public life, as if to give them a reward.

Fending off criticism from the Opposition that it should have been the turn of someone from the PN ranks to be nominated, following the appointment of former Labour deputy leader George Abela in 2009, Dr Muscat said there was nothing in writing obliging him to follow that pattern.

“I did not nominate Dr Coleiro Preca because she hails from the PL but because she possesses all the qualities that a Head of State must have in a country commemorating 50 years of independence,” he said.

Her nomination was necessary as the country needed a Head of State full of energy and not somebody who was reaching retirement age, at a time when Malta would take on the EU Presidency in 2017.

The ninth President, he said, would also be crucial to overseeing the constitutional amendments which would pave the way for the second republic.

Ms Coleiro Preca’s social agenda was her flagship as minister, and so he thought it would be fitting that as Head of State she would be in charge of a number of initiatives in favour of the most vulnerable.

We are asking Ms Coleiro Preca to be the social soul of the country and a reference point

For this reason it had been agreed that she would be in charge of the national strategy against poverty that she had piloted as minister.

This issue needed to be taken on board by the country as a whole, he added.

The Office of the President will also be responsible for the Food Aid Programme, the Commission for the Family, the National Family Forum, the Commission for Children’s Strategy and Policy, the Commission Against Substance Abuse, the Commission against Domestic Violence, the National Prevention Agency and the Leap Agency. “In this manner the presidency will have an aim,” Dr Muscat said.

Additional funds and human resources would be devoted to the Office of the President to be able to carry out these additional functions.

While reiterating that Ms Coleiro Preca would not be limited to a ceremonial role, he said she would be actively in touch with the people.

This was a watershed moment for the country and “and a gift on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of independence”.