Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/841483
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 25 JUNE 2017 5 cians on both sides of the House to strive for national unity after "weeks of intensive electoral cam- paigning, and after months of in- tense, and at times even destruc- tive debates. "In a country with a population of a little under half a million, we cannot let ethnicity, being Maltese or Gozitan, living in the north or south, or coming from a rich or poor background be issues which divide us," said the President. The President noted that her speech this year would be shorter than usual and was intended to show the Government's direction for the country during this legis- lature. She touched upon a number of areas of government work, such as national economic and social ad- vancement. Constitutional convention Coleiro Preca said that during the legislature the Government would be starting a process that would lead to a Constitutional convention with the aim of mod- ernising the country's institutions by making them more accessible and accountable to the people. "Through the changes it pro- poses, the aim of the convention, above all, will also be to unite our people," she said. "The Constitu- tional Renewal, for the birth of a Second Republic based on national unity, will be part of the legacy of this legislature." The president added that it was the Government's belief that the new constitution could be a tool that unites the country and pre- pares it for the challenges ahead. She stressed that the changes outlined in the manifesto on which the Labour Party was elected to government need to "laid down in the framework of a new Statute for the country through the birth of a Second Republic". "The Constitution of Malta has to be updated, to reflect not only the present, but also to anticipate the future," said Coleiro Preca. News "We cannot expect this process of unity to take only a few days or weeks" The Prime Minister and MPs at yesterday's opening of Parliament. Below: (left) Godfrey Farrugia talking to Michael Falzon and Joe Mizzi and (right) the President inspecting a Guard of Honour