Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1101649
25 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 APRIL 2019 OPINION I mean, seriously, folks: can any of you actually read that, and keep a straight face? What 'measures' did the supposed 'custodians of the Constitu- tion' ever take to stop suc- cessive governments from just defecating all over that paragraph with impunity? Why do Maltese presidents always limit their interpreta- tion of the Office's powers only to taking a moral stand on abortion… and not on any of the other provisos within the same Constitution? But I've answered that ques- tion already. Because – like so many other things our Presidents have a habit of saying – it is facile, easy and (ultimately) meaningless. That day when a president of the Maltese Republic finally puts his or her foot down on environmental concerns… instead of just phantom, bogus 'moral issues'… then, perhaps, we might have a reason to take their environmental resolve even remotely seriously. But don't hold your breath, because it is not going to hap- pen. As I did with Coleiro Pre- ca, I listened closely to George Vella's inaugural address this week. And yet again, we have another former member of the same administration – a man who, until just last week, was part of a government commit- ted to the very same policies described above – telling us that now (but only now) he will start concentrating on environmental protection. "Our environment is threat- ened. During my presidency, I will look to the authorities to show responsibility towards sustainability and their obliga- tions towards future genera- tions," he said. Please note: 'during my presidency'… not 'during my 35-career as a hugely influ- ential member of the Labour Party, who occupied various Cabinet positions, and there- fore had massive influence over all aspects of the govern- ment's internal decision-mak- ing process'. I guess the question asks itself, really. Why only now? Why did George Vella never express any similar concern at any point during the three or so decades he was a member of the Labour Party parliamen- tary group? Like, when he was deputy leader of that party, for instance? Besides: if this is how he all along felt about his own government's environmental policies…. why did George Vella never use his influence at Cabinet level to bring about a change to the policies them- selves? Why did he consist- ently vote in favour of so many environmentally unsound laws when he was a Member of Parliament? But there you have it. Somehow, we have all tacitly accepted this sudden, inexpli- cable 'Jekyll and Hyde' trans- formation from anyone who gets appointed to the Presiden- cy. It no longer surprises us, that people like George Vella would suddenly discover a profound environmental con- science… the moment he steps down from a position where he might have actually made a difference to government's environmental record; and on stepping into a new position which we all know, from bitter experience, cannot hope to have any impact at all. And it's not just the environ- ment, by the way. As if literally quoting from a handbook for newly-appointed presidents, George Vella also repeated the same old bizarre, unearthly cliché resorted to by all his predecessors, bar none. He solemnly declared that his Presidency will "seek to heal divisions." You will surely remember how Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said the same thing; so did George Abela; and so (incredibly) did Eddie Fenech Adami… even though he was, in part, the architect of so many of those divisions in the first place. And OK, I'll concede that George Vella – as a Maltese politician – is nowhere near as 'divisive' a choice as Fenech Adami was in his own day. But come on, let's get real. George Vella thinks he's going to 'heal the division'? How, exactly? By drawing on his vast experience as a 'conciliatory figure' in Maltese politics… when he was all along plugged into precisely the same dualistic mindset as everyone else? Or by simply pretending that he was never part of the forces that have ripped this coun- try apart in the past 40 or so years? Oh wait, I know. He will suc- ceed in 'unifying the nation' by simply repeating the same old meaningless catchphrases of all his predecessors, who all made exactly the same prom- ise in their day… yet somehow, nearly always managed leave this country even more divided than it was before. Nonetheless, I feel it's only fair to conclude by wishing President George Vella the best of luck in this new-found commitment of his. Judging only by how all those other Presidential promises of 'na- tional unity' went in the end… something tells me he will need all the luck he can get. Nonetheless, I feel it's only fair to conclude by wishing President George Vella the best of luck in this new-found commitment of his. Judging only by how all those other Presidential promises of 'national unity' went in the end… something tells me he will need all the luck he can get President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca was very quick to tell us that she would refuse to sign an abortion bill if it was ever put before her. Yet she had no qualms whatsoever when it came to enacting all sorts of other legislation which made an open mockery of her own, stated environmental concerns