Tension is brewing at the Presidential Palace over an unprecedented arrangement made between Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and former President Marie Louise Coleiro-Preca that allows her to retain certain functions of her former office, The Sunday Times of Malta is informed.
The new State-funded ‘Office of the President Emeritus’ permits Dr Coleiro-Preca to carry on with her charity work, which is completely unremunerated, according to her spokesman.
The former president has also retained the administration of two entities – The President’s Trust and The President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society – which she had set up during her time as President.
The spokesman said the foundations’ statutes have now been changed to reflect the new set-up. However the changes have not yet been registered.
According to the statutes, it is the serving President who must act as the head of these foundations and approve any changes made.
The Sunday Times has been told that the new arrangement did not go down well with the new Presidency.
“The former president is assuming functions which, apart from being unregulated, may also clash with the official Office of the President,” one government official close to his office said on condition of anonymity.
Soon after ending her term last month, Dr Coleiro-Preca transferred her office and the two foundations to a government building in Floriana and former members of staff accompanied her.
The building, previously used by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, was assigned to Dr Coleiro-Preca by the government on the direct instructions of the Prime Minister.
All former presidents, who have no constitutional role or function have a driver and a secretary paid for by the government, to be of assistance during their retirement.
Dr Coleiro-Preca has been joined by the former secretary to the presidency, Carmel Briffa, and another senior official previously employed at the Presidential Palace.
In addition, 10 former employees of San Anton Palace assigned to the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society have also been transferred.
In answer to questions on this matter, Dr Coleiro-Preca’s spokesman – the same person who performed the role while she was president – said she had been assigned two officials “in light of the additional responsibilities she has assumed since the end of her term”.
Office of the President Emeritus set up after consultations with Prime Minister
Asked on whose authority Dr Coleiro-Preca had opened the Office of the President Emeritus and taken on the new functions, the spokesman said this followed “consultations with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat”.
The spokesman said: “The Office of the President Emeritus Coleiro-Preca was set up by the government and is based in Floriana along with the foundations, following consultations with the Lands Authority.
“It is allocated its budget by the Ministry of Finance and confirms that no costs are incurred by the office for any external services.”
The statutes of the two foundations were “being amended to reflect the new structure and have been filed and registered,” the spokesman added.
On checking, however, The Sunday Times of Malta found that no changes in the statutes had yet been filed with the Office of the Registrar for Legal Persons. Both foundations are still registered at San Anton Palace, the official residence of the President of Malta.
The trustees of the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society have not changed since Dr Coleiro-Preca was president. They include Mr Briffa, John Camilleri, who is the former chief of staff of the Office of the President, businessmen Michael Bianchi, Corinthia Group chairman Alfred Pisani and entrepreneur Winston Zahra.
A number of questions sent to the former president over her new functions were not answered. She was asked how many people have been employed by the new Office of the President Emeritus, what is their rank, who is funding their operations, when the arrangement to take over the Floriana premises was made and whether any outside media services had been engaged by the Office of the President Emeritus.
So far, Dr Coleiro Preca has been using the services of the same PR agency for the Wellbeing Foundation that she used as president.
The spokesman did say, in answer to the questions, that the former president was receiving no remuneration “for her dedicated commitment to the abovementioned causes and organisations”.
On his part, a spokesman for President Vella gave a diplomatic reply when asked about consultations with the former president and the Office of the Prime Minister.
“The Office of the President would like to highlight that, on agreement between the Office of Prime Minister and President Emeritus Coleiro Preca, there was an understanding that the Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society would continue to be administered by President Emeritus Coleiro Preca,” he said.
“Since the new Presidency has nothing to do with the foundation there was no need for any consultation or handover,” he said. The office avoided replies on the taking over of The President’s Trust.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman did not reply to questions.
Former president decries 'distorted picture'
In a reply after The Sunday Times of Malta published its story, the former President described the article as an attempt to paint a "distorted picture" of the state of affairs surrounding the office and Dr Vella.
Her office referred to a statement issued by the Prime Minister on March 5, before her term as President of Malta expired, which stated the following: “Following consultation with the President (Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca), it has been decided that upon leaving office the President shall continue to serve as the Chair for the Foundation of Wellbeing for Society which she herself had set up during her term. The foundation will retain its autonomy and, in order to continue to perform its functions, will retain the resources with which it already operates in order to perform its functions.”
The article "gives the distorted impression that this was a decision taken by Her Excellency to exclude the President of Malta – when nothing could be further from the truth."
Her office pointed out that while former presidents had been assigned one official, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca has been assigned two in the light of her involvement with the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society as well as the privately-funded Emanuele Cancer Research Foundation and the Malta Trust Foundation.
"These organisations are all fully regulated, bring together professionals of the highest calibre and operate the highest standards of governance, as well as carrying out valuable work that benefits a very large number of people’s lives. There is no competition when undertaking social work and good, which can benefit all those members of society that are vulnerable."
The office made it clear that it was Dr Coleiro Preca's intention from the outset, to have the best possible relations with her successor, whom she holds in the highest regard.