Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1068299
17 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 JANUARY 2019 INTERVIEW feel that it is their Constitution. Your term as President will come to an end in April. In view of this, when it comes to your role in the constitutional reform, where do you see this going? Would you consider presiding over the reform even when your presidency ends? Yes… I've had a discussion with the Prime Minister on this, and this is the intention – that I continue to preside over the reform. You've mention how important the wellbeing of society is for you. Malta is today probably richer than it ever was. Do you worry, however, that there is a danger that certain people who are finding it difficult to keep up with life's demands end up forgotten by society? I entered politics, when I was very young, to make a differ- ence, and this remained my mentality. I have been consist- ent and always stood up for the voiceless and society's under- dogs. We shouldn't put our minds at rest because our country now has an economy which is growing at a significant and impressive rate, one of the best in Europe. This is because we know that positive develop- ment also leaves it victims, and this is why I said in the Repub- lic Day speech that we should strive for permanent social solidarity… Unfortunately, even when there is a good economic cli- mate, there are still victims, such as in the case of housing. The housing situation is leav- ing a number of victims, we have to admit this. Some people might not like what I am saying, but the truth is that, with our strong eco- nomic expansion, unfortunate- ly, a number of people have ended up as victims, with some even being rendered homeless because they cannot keep up with rent costs. The White Paper on afforda- ble housing has given me some hope… there are not only peo- ple who have found themselves in poverty, but also those who are afraid because their sal- ary isn't sufficient for them to start a family. So I hope we'll have the necessary measures in place for affordable housing. We also need to push as much as possible to have adequate so- cial housing to cater for those who have ended up in a situa- tion of poverty. Do you agree with the possibility of immigrants being allowed to vote in local elections, if they have lived in Malta for a certain period of time? Europeans, and other foreign- ers from non-African coun- tries, are given the right to vote in local council elections after they have lived in Malta for a certain period. So what do the immigrants who come from Africa, and are contributing towards the prosperity of our country, have less than people coming from other [non-Afri- can] countries? Of course they should be al- lowed to vote for local council elections. Just as people com- ing from non-African countries have a right to vote, so should those immigrants from Africa who have lived in Malta for a number of years – and some of them have been here for many years. Should this right be extended to general elections too? No, at this point in time I'd say only local council elections… That which others – Europeans and other foreign non-Africans – have a right to do should also be the right of people from Af- rica. We should apply the same rules. We won't be creating any new rules, but the same rules should apply to everyone – just like human rights are universal in nature. Moving on to a different subject, when Parliament was discussing the IVF law amendments, you did something rare. You asked MPs to listen to what NGOs had to say on the proposed legal changes. Why did you feel you had to do this? Because I believe that civil society is a fundamental com- ponent of our democracy… I strongly believe in NGOs. In fact, even throughout my presidential tenure, I have con- tinuously met with NGOs and have set up platforms – such as the National Cancer Platform, made up of 17 NGOs related to fighting cancer, and the Mental Health Platform, consisting in mental health organisations – for such organisations to come together and discuss common issues… This is why I had appealed to Parliament to lend an ear to NGO's views on the IVF law amendments. Some of the NGOs had certain issues with some aspects of the IVF law amendments, especially when it came to embryo freezing and surrogacy. Did you have any personal reservations on the law? I had a reservation regarding the matter of stockpiling, and I spoke with the government about this. I am very concerned on what will happen with the extra em- bryos and what will happen to that if they are not adopted. Other countries dispose of mil- lions of unused embryos, and many embryos are also used for research. So I am worried about what will happen when we have stockpiles of embryos. I believe that life starts at the point of conception… I am making this clear, because I do not hide what I believe in. Regarding surrogacy, this is no longer part of the IVF law [which was enacted]… it was said that there will be a discus- sion about it in the future. How do you respond to those who criticised you for signing the law when it came before you for approval, despite your reservations? I believe in democracy. When I took my oath of office as Pres- ident… this signified loyalty towards the Constitution… It is Parliament which discusses and enacts laws, and the Presi- dent signs the law. I cannot go against democracy. I made my- self clear about the matter, and did what I could. When it comes to the role of the President, do you think the office should be granted a wider degree of power, or that the President should be elected by a wide college of MPs and local councilors, to make the process more democratic? Without any doubt, the presi- dency's, like any other consti- tutional institution, also needs to be reviewed. Through the constitutional reform, we will be taking our democracy to the next level. So, where do we want our country to go, and to what level to we want to take our democracy? We need to see what our peo- ple's aspirations are, and what tools we need to need such as- pirations. I think other aspects should also be included in the consti- tutional reform, for instance I hope there will be discussion of whether the environment, or children, should also feature in our Constitution. But, again, I don't want to put forth my standpoints now, be- fore there is a public discussion on these things, or I'd feel like I am superseding the democratic participation process. Turning to social media… you have spoken about the toxic nature of certain discussions which take place on Facebook and other website. I think this was particularly evident during the 2017 election… Do you think things have improved now on how there were in 2017, in this respect? The first thing we have to ad- dress is the "us and them" men- tality in Malta. I was shocked recently when I was having a discussion with children in a school classroom on bully- ing and cyberbullying, and a girl stood up and spoke about how she had been the subject of people insulting her and say- ing they wished she developed cancer. These things are shocking, and you wouldn't even dream of saying something like that, let alone read them on Face- book. To me, these things should never happen. This is why I en- courage our political leaders to measure their words, even in Parliament… It is fine to disagree, but do I need to insult you? Where is dignity in all this? Nowadays everybody has become a 'jour- nalist' [but] we need to be more cautious in forming an opin- ion, and just because we don't agree, it doesn't mean I should insult you. I have appealed to journalists to fight the challenges of sen- sationalism. Fake news has be- come the order of the day, but the professional media needs to lead the way when it comes to the truth and facts. We can't have people believing fake news and not the facts, or we would otherwise be twisting the truth. Your presidency will end this year. Until recently, your name was being mentioned when it comes to possible MEP candidacy for next year's European Parliament elections. Do you exclude this? I never said I would be a can- didate. These were rumours… which I denied. Has your participation in politics ended, or is there the possibility you could get back into the political sphere? If you mean partisan politics, that's one thing. But if by poli- tics you mean a sustained inter- est in what is going on in our country, that's something else. I will surely remain interested in what is taking place in our country and with our people. Without any doubt, the presidency's, like any other constitutional institution, also needs to be reviewed PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES BIANCHI