Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1489386
13 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 4 JANUARY 2023 OPINION OK, OK: I know I started last year with a resolution to 'always look at the bright side of life'. But let's be honest: that didn't exactly turn out to be a roaring success in the end… did it now? No, indeed. It seems that – de- spite my very best efforts (and I really did try, you know) – the world now finds itself in an in- finitely worse place, than when I originally made that ill-fated New Year's Resolution a mere 12 months ago. Almost everywhere you look, there is now nothing but war; poverty; inflation; corruption; en- vironmental degradation; celebri- ty billionaires behaving like little cry-babies (whilst effectively con- trolling every single government's entire economic policy-direction, for the foreseeable future…) And if that's not depressing enough for you: over the past year, we've also lost some of the most distinguished, influential and history-defining personali- ties, that the world has ever seen. Like Meat Loaf, for instance. Or Robbie Coltrane; Angela Lans- bury; Olivia Newton-John; Chris- tine McVie… even Coolio, for crying out loud! (I mean: come on, 2022! Did you really have to take 90% of my entire adoles- cence with you, when you walked out that door?) Not to mention all those other celebrity-deaths that – although admittedly minor, by comparison – nonetheless provoked mourn- ing, gnashing-of-teeth, and great public acts of self-flagellation, in large parts of the world. Queen Elizabeth II; Pope Benedict; Mikhail Gorbachev; Kristie Alley (from 'Cheers')… See what I mean? It's almost as though the Fates are trying to tell me something, here. Something along the lines of: 'Careful what sort of New Year's Resolutions you actually make, because… well, they can backfire quite bad- ly, you know!" And besides: this is, after all, my first article of 2023… and isn't that what "celebrating the New Year" is supposed to be all about? 'New Year, New Me', and all the rest of that unmitigated bull- crap? So without further ado: see- ing as how the 'Old Me' clear- ly failed to divert the course of human history, as intended… I may as well try something com- pletely different this year. In fact, for the rest of 2023, I here- by resolve to only ever look at things from the most pessimistic, 'worst-case-scenario', and utterly 'doom-and-gloom' perspective, that I can possibly muster (in the hope, naturally, that 2023 will go the same way as its predecessor… and deliver the opposite instead). And what better place to start, than with the one institution which (on this little rock, any- way) represents the very founda- tion-stone of our country's status as a sovereign, independent state? The Republic of Malta, no less? That's right, folks: this article shall accurately predict the down- fall of the entire Maltese Repub- lic, by the end of 2023 (though I expect it to actually start happen- ing in around three to four weeks' time). And my prediction rests squarely on the following facts: 1) That incumbent President George Vella (whose term of of- fice expires in February 2024, by the way) has repeatedly threat- ened to resign, if asked to ratify any bill that – in his view – 'le- galises abortion', in any shape or form; 2) That Parliament is currently discussing an amendment (Bill 28) that would effectively allow for the 'termination of pregnancy' – that's another term for 'abor- tion', right there – in cases where the mother's health is in 'serious jeopardy'… with the final vote expected to be taken towards the end of this month. 3) Effectively, then, Bill 28 will land on President Vella's desk for ratification, by not later than around the first or second week of February; and Vella himself has already indicated that – un- like the case with IVF – this time, he will not be leaving the islands for a sudden, impromptu 'holiday abroad'. Right, I'll stop there for now: because already it appears that President Vella has painted himself into a corner, whereby 'resignation' is the only possi- ble remaining option. This was all rather neatly explained in an article by my colleague James Debono; so to save time, I'll just quote this part: "In his book, Il-Manwal tal-President (The President's Manual), the only guide to inter- preting the Constitution, former president Ugo Mifsud Bonnici argues the president cannot re- frain from giving assent to an act of parliament because it goes against his principles or morality. […] If the president feels that his conscience does not allow him to assent, he should resign…" [Note: I freely concede that President George Vella could very easily extricate himself from this quandary, by simply saying… 'Hey, guess what? I've changed my mind!' But don't forget: I'm not looking at ALL possible sce- narios, here… only the 'worst- case' ones.] So make no mistake: before the first two months of 2023 are up, George Vella will have no remain- ing option, but to tender his resig- nation as President of the Maltese Republic, with immediate effect. And as James Debono also rightly notes: "This will create a constitu- tional crisis and a political prob- lem for the government…" But this, in turn, only brings us to two other, rather significant con- siderations. For starters: while the Consti- tution itself does not specifically make provisions for the resigna- tion of a sitting president, Article 49 reads: "Whenever the office of President is temporarily vacant, and until a new President is ap- pointed… those functions shall be performed by such person as the Prime Minister, after consultation with the Leader of the Opposi- tion, may appoint or, if there is no person in Malta so appointed and able to perform those functions, by the Speaker of the House of Representatives." Now: this would almost certainly be enough to overcome the im- mediate hurdle – i.e., the question of actually getting Bill 28 ratified, in the absence of any incumbent president – because government can simply do what it did the last time: and re-appoint acting pres- ident Frank Bezzina, to sign it in George Vella's stead. But government cannot PER- MANENTLY appoint Bezzina – or anyone else – as a replacement for Vella, because… … well, that was the whole point of the Constitutional amendment of February 2020. Remember? The one which changed Article 48 (that actually regulates the 'ap- pointment of Presidents') so that it now - for the first time ever, please note – reads: a) "There shall be a President of Malta who shall be appointed by Resolution supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of the House", and; b) "[…] if the Resolution is not supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of the House, the person occupy- ing the office of the President of Malta shall, in any circumstance, remain in office until the Resolu- tion is supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of the House." Translated from the legalis- tic gobbledygook, that means that Malta's next President after George Vella (whether the latter actually resigns, or not) has to be appointed by a two-thirds major- ity; and in the event that no such agreement is ever reached – and let's face it: it's not exactly what you'd call a 'strong likelihood', is it? - the 'person occupying the office of the President of Malta' simply stays on, indefinitely, until such time as the two sides of the House actually agree. Do I need to continue? What would happen if President Vella DOES resign… leaving the coun- try WITHOUT any 'person oc- cupying the office', to actually be kept in it for the duration of the crisis? OK, I know what you're proba- bly thinking. You could, I suppose, always argue that Bezzina himself (or any other temporary replace- ment, chosen by the Prime Min- ister) would technically be 'occu- pying the office', at the time… and therefore, could be retained as act- ing-president, for as long as neces- sary, without actually violating Ar- ticle 49 of the Constitution… … but only as ACTING Presi- dent, because – as per Article 48 – any 'permanent' replacement would still need to be formally approved by that all-important two-thirds majority… if he/she is ever to be considered a fully-func- tional, Constitutionally legitimate 'President of the Republic', in his/ her own right. And because we are living at a time when Malta's traditional political divide has never been (at least, not in my lifetime) as utterly unbridgeable, as it is today… what are the chances that the Opposi- tion party would ever agree, to a 'two-thirds majority' that would – by definition - also bring about a permanent solution, to a problem that would actually make Mal- ta UNGOVERNABLE, under its present (Labour) administration? In other words: why the bleeding hell should Bernard Grech even consider HELPING (!) Robert Ab- ela, out of an 'embarrassing' crisis that can only ever weaken his own government (to the great advan- tage of Grech's own party)? Sorry, but: even if I hadn't on- ly just made a public New Year's Resolution, to 'only look at the pessimistic side of life'… I would still consider that to be an abso- lute impossibility: at almost any time in Malta's recent history; but even more so, in today's hope- lessly confrontational, hopelessly antagonistic, and… well, basically just 'hopeless' political climate. So, um, what can I say? I suggest you all savour the experience of living in a sovereign, independent Republic, for as long it actually lasts… because something tells me that - when he resigns from office, in a few weeks' time -George Vella may well end up becoming the last President, this country has ever had. Oh, and one other thing before I forget… … Happy New Year, folks! Next President after George Vella? There probably won't even be one… Raphael Vassallo