President George Abela was handed a copy of the controversial speech he read at the opening of Parliament at least two days in advance, The Times has learnt.
There was ample time to suggest any changes he felt were necessary
The speech was criticised for its partisan undertone and Dr Abela last Sunday appeared to distance himself from its content, saying: “As you saw on TV, the Prime Minister gets up and passes it on to the President to read it.”
Both his office and that of the Prime Minister have declined to comment any further on the matter. However, sources have indicated that Dr Abela was aware of the contents of the speech before it was delivered.
“Nobody will say it but there was ample time for the President to suggest any changes he felt were necessary,” the source said. “It’s would be misleading to imply that the first time he saw it was at Parliament’s inauguration ceremony.”
The Times asked the Office of the President whether Dr Abela had seen the speech beforehand and whether he had made, or suggested, any changes to it. A spokeswoman said Dr Abela would not be making any further comment.
A spokesman at the Office of the Prime Minister also said they had nothing to add, noting that the Prime Minister had already said Dr Abela’s calls for changing the present system “made sense”.
In comments to national broadcaster PBS, Emeritus President Eddie Fenech Adami yesterday recalled making some minor amendments to the parliamentary opening speech he made in 2008.
“Without a doubt, the President can suggest changes to a speech,” Dr Fenech Adami said. “I had suggested some minor changes to the tone of the speech. It wasn’t any-thing substantive”.
The speech made at the opening of Parliament is modelled on the British system, whereby the monarch reads a speech written by members of the Government, laying out the Government’s programme.
The speech that upset the Nationalist Party began by noting that the “age of arrogant leadership” was over and that the Government would not rule through “a clique”.
If I had to reread it, I would change it myself. But you have to see things in their right context and the Malta of 1987 was different to that of today
In its conclusion, the speech stated that the landslide electoral result was proof that citizens were “willing to come together to take the right decisions for the country”, ending with Labour’s electoral slogan Malta taghna lkoll (Malta for all).
This is not the first time the opening speech has raised eyebrows because of its choice of words, with some having criticised the one delivered at the start of the sixth legislature in 1987.
Coming after the Nationalist Party had been returned to power after 16 years of a Labour Government, the speech had the President, then Paul Xuereb, say that “the Maltese want a government that doesn’t distort their identity” and that they had voted for “the law to once again be equal for everyone”.
Dr Fenech Adami, who at the time was Prime Minister, suggested yesterday that, with the benefit of hindsight, he would have worded that speech differently.
“If I had to reread it, I would change it myself. But you have to see things in their right context and the Malta of 1987 was different to that of today,” he said.