This really is no way to behave – so he’s no better than his son Robert, after all
So it turns out I was right when I wrote that there is no way the President was handed that speech for the state opening of parliament right there and then.
I knew I was, because the gesture is merely symbolic of the prime minister having written it (or having it written for him). The reality is that procedure and protocol demand that the speech is given to the president ahead of time so that he and his aides can vet and review it and ask for anything which they find compromising (if the prime minister is so ill-mannered and politically untrained as to compromise the head of state) to be removed.
That’s what always happens. And it should be obvious, really, that it’s what happens. The president is the head of state. His aides, if not he himself, would insist on having the speech beforehand.
Now this morning The Times reports that the president had the speech two days in advance. He knew exactly what was in it all along and made no requests for changes.
He only said what he did, a couple of days ago, about the need to change the system (rather than the need for us to have a properly-behaved prime minister) after he was subjected to a host of criticism from virtually all quarters, and when the man who made him president called that speech ‘deeply insulting’.
“You could see that the prime minister hands the speech to the president there and then”, he said in his excuses. Now it turns out not to be true at all.
And then when I said that of course the blame for Robert Abela’s utterly disgraceful behaviour, insulting ‘GonziPN’ at a Labour mass meeting when he is not even a political candidate, could be laid squarely at his father the president’s door, some people jumped down my throat.
But of course he should be blamed for it. He clearly allowed his son to think it was all right to be so bloody rude and slap the man who made him president in the face in public and that this would not be considered outrageous behaviour nor would it compromise or embarrass his father in his role as head of state.
But let me be even franker still: had he given that son a proper upbringing he would have known how to behave in the first place. This is not a recalcitrant teenager we are talking about.
I’m sorry, but I have lost all respect for this man.
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The true colours are coming out – what a shame.
Issa aqbdu wkoll mal-President, halli darba ohra t-tkaxkira TKUN IKBAR !!!!!!!!!!
What a sorry state you’re in. Enjoy the moment while you can.
In the coming year, the President will focus on damage limitation because he knows that this speech incident dented the trust that the nation may have had in him.
Il-President bir-rispett kollhu huwa biss capaci biex idur bis-sasla u jigbor il-flus.
As I’ve said before, Abela is the worst president of Malta ever.
It’s been apparent to me since the very beginning that this man does not have the backbone, nor the grey matter, to be president material.
At this point the only decent course of action would be resignation. Of course, that’s not going to happen.
No, he is the best. He opened the Kitchen Garden and organizes a yearly fun run.
So the President had the speech two days before the state opening of parliament. I am now more than convinced than ever before that he read it beforehand and therefore approved of its contents.
Whilst the PM is to blame for ridiculing the President, amongst others, with that written speech, the President – in my opinion – is as much to blame unless his office denies this information in no uncertain way.
In the above circumstances, if the information is correct, the President had various options. He could have refused to read the controversial parts, he could have changed those parts, he could have requested the PM to change them, and – if he got a refusal for change from the PM – the President could, as a last resort, have taken the honourable way out and offered his resignation.
Fat chance of offering his resignation.
Silence for two whole days means consent.
Mhux wiehed ghandek ragun DCG imma elf. Min seta jemmen li l-president ma qrahx qabel id-diskors.
Mela dawn affarijiet tal-principjanti,lanqas d-diskors ghall-iskola ghax jinqara ghal ma nafx kemm il-darba ahseb wara okkazzjoni importanti daqshekk.
Bis bis biex ikun jaf kif u b’liema tonalita ghandu jaqrah biex ikun bis-sens ahseb u ara biex ikun jaf x’fih. Ma nafx kif jahsbu li n-nies jemmnu kollox u ma jafux kif imorru l-affarijiet.
Il-Laburisti dejjem injoranti rieduhom lin-nies pero kien hemm gvern li ha hsieb li ghallem hafna.
So here we have a president who is a liar.
Just like the prime minister. Remember the saga about the white substance (il-blokka l-bajda) – how many times Joseph lied?
“I’m sorry, but I have lost all respect for this man.”
That makes two of us.
My message: BOYCOTT anything which has anything to do with George Abela. And I include MCCF, L-Istrina et al.
I am in no way encouraging people to act in a less charitable fashion. There are, after all, several philantropic organizations around.
Yeah well, boycott Malta? Because he’s the head of state.
We’re nothing but a lickspittle people and a stain on the world map.
Only a little over half, friend. True and sad, however, I retain hope that, after a horrendous five years, reasoning people will begin to reason.
More than a little over half. It is part of the Maltese character to interpret respect as fawning deference, and criticism as “personal attack”. The people you hang around with, the movers and shakers, are probably the exception.
You come from a culture that enshrines liberty in its laws. Our laws enshrine fear. Did you know, for instance, that it is a criminal offence to “ridicule the president”. Or words to that effect. But it’s not just some dead letter. Norman Lowell was indicted on this charge, among others, during Eddie Fenech Adami’s term as president. Now I may think Norman Lowell is a deluded fool, but as a liberal, I think the charges brought against him (yes, including the other charge of incitement to racial hatred) are the pinnacle of perversion, and should make us tremble.
Harry, the Maltese love to live in fear. And when they are given freedom, they will find something to live in fear of. It may be a god, a saint, a grand master, an emperor, a mother in law, a government, a president. Whatever it is, the Maltese cherish fear. They are the ultimate anti-Europeans.
And Kenneth Zammit Tabona tells us we “breathe baroque”. We do nothing of the sort. We breathe semitic tribal shamanism. We breathe the culture that spawned Islam, or to translate the term, “submission”. There you go. No Hellenic satire or Scandinavo-Germanic people’s rule for us. And no baroque. Baroque is Molière, mocking Monsieur Jourdain. It is Simplicius, heaping scorn upon Europe’s rulers. It is heroes raining down death and destruction on their enemies, saving the fair Andromeda, or dying in the attempt. It is courting danger, not seeking self-preservation.
The Canadians, bless their cotton socks, are the sons of the intrepid Champlain and the enlightened British, with the last of the Mohicans thrown in. We are the sons of Levantine snake-oil merchants, with lots Barbary slaves thrown in.
And you are not the only one to lose it, Daphne
After all it turned out to be that we have a double-faced president. Pity, because we thought that Abela was a gentleman. – We were utterly wrong,
The Emeritus President Fenech Adami said during an interview, that he had to amend some comments in the speech he had to read after the elections of 2008.
Spot on
How very devious of Mr. President of the Republic.
The president of the republic caught fibbing.
‘Zmien l-arroganza fit-tmexxija spicca’
Of course.
There is absolutely no escuse for such behaviour. Sadly I admit that there is a lot of hatred and spite in this small Maltese community. One has to go down to the very roots and analyse why this happens.
They merit no respect because they do not respect anyone and have no idea what respect means.
I think that the president never bothered to read what was written simply because that it never crossed his mind that Joseph would write such insulting political quotations.
As one famous person used to pray, God protect me from my friends; my enemies I can take care of myself.
Bullshit, He loved it and read it.
It is not believable that the president never bothered to read the speech beforehand.
And I have a strong feeling that the President and his son made up that speech.
I think that you are not the only one who lost all respect for this man. After all he read the whole speech with pleasure, including the insulting part of it, and even MORE, he tried to make the nation believe that he did not know what was in it before he read it.
Damn! I was thinking of visiting Saudi Arabia.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/saudiarabia/10000341/Saudi-Arabia-deports-irresistible-men-deemed-too-handsome-to-women.html
George Abela could not have properly equipped his son with good manners, because he has none of them himself. He’s been all smiley and likey for 4 years, and now he’s really showing his true colours.
He’ll never forgive Gonzi for taking him out of politics – kicking him upstairs basically, so he sent his son in to do the honours.
What a mad country.
Gonzi asked Gorg Abela. Gorg Abela accepted. Gorg Abela could have refused. Gorg Abela is there because he chose to.
However, as recent events have shown, Gorg Abela did not give up politics.
Re your last sentence: me too!
I’m still under shock and bitterly saddened to realise we have a liar for a president. We deserve otherwise. Cannot feel deeper sorrow for a gentleman, distinct Gonzi.
His excellency the President George Abela: “You could see that the prime minister hands the speech to the president there and then”, whilst ‘’The Times reports that the president had the speech two days in advance’’.
Mr President is obliged to clarify his position in a credible manner. Until this is done, I’m still under shock and bitterly saddened to realise that we have a liar for a president. Cannot feel deeper sorrow for a gentleman of the standing and stature of our ex Prime Minister Dr Gonzi.
Do not forget that we have a bigger liar as a prime minister. Maybe the president was jealous and wanted to be counted in as well. After all, we’re all in now… in big sh*t
Like you, I am very disappointed in Dr. Abela. Around my family we don’t see him anymore like we used to. Not only ungrateful but very disrespectful. Virtually all the Labour MPs praised Dr. Gonzi with his courageous decision. Obviously, Dr..Abela doesn’t at all respect Dr.Gonzi. I wonder why?
So now he wants a referendum to bypass the 2/3 parliamentary majority needed to change the Constitution.
Dr.Abela is pushing for a referendum to assure a Constitution that is favourable to MLP.
This all proves that Dr. Abela’s good conduct these years was a reflection of the way he was directed by the then Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister changed and the conduct changed.
So, all those praises that went to Dr. Abela during his tenure, were in fact due to the government of the day not to his excellency. I suppose there is only political slogan that will keep on echoing through our modern history: Is-Sewwa Jirbaħ Żgur! i.e.. everything comes out clear in the end.
Well said, Daphne.
To think that this person, whoever he/she is, has one vote, just as I do. From The Times’ comments:
J. Camilleri
Today, 15:01
x kien hemm hazin f dak li qara l-president? kien il-programm elettorali tal-moviment li bena Joseph Muscat, li ghalih ivvutaw 36000 ruh….
nahseb ma kien hemm xejn hazin li ergajna smajniex fil-parlament, b’hekk ghandna prova l-gvern x’irrid iwettaq f’ dawn il-hames snin li gejjin.
Mhux li kien ivvutaw ghalih 36000 ruh biss jahasra…kieku m’ghandniex dawn l-istupidagnijiet kollha jsehhu
This happens to be one of Lawrence Gonzi’s first mistakes. One hopes that he now regrets his decision.
L-apparenza tinganna.
Brilliant .as alwaus you write what my mind and that of many others are thinking .
http://www.independent.com.mt/mobile/2013-04-18/opinions/hoist-by-their-500-petard-1414823946/
The president through his speech at the Floriana Band Club tried to mislead the Maltese by insinuating that the first time he saw the script was at the opening of parliament.
Now we learn that he had it two days beforehand. I think he should resign.
I agree with you but I also blame Dr Gonzi for trusting a person who was a candidate for the leadership of the LP.
So we have a president li jmur jizzattat in Central America ghax he is so charitable jahasra.
And then he behaves abominably towards Lawrence Gonzi. Abela is a disgusting backstabber. Typical nasty Laburist.
Doppia faccia jew faccoll. Sounds stonger than double-faced in English. But in whatever language it fits the president.
So, Mr. president, after accepting the nomination by the very honourable Dr. Lawrence Gonzi, this is the way you pay him back.
Isthi jekk taf.
Hal Qormi ma jixirqilhiex cittadini bhal dan. Jixirqilha ahjar.
I fully agree, and in protest, I will not be donating to istrina…I’m just gonna choose my charities and go personally to give them my donation.
If you fancy supporting the Deaf Association, to which I have dedicated 20 years (we have a deaf daughter), I’m in the book.
Thanks chris, will do
I`d say most Maltese have lost all respect for him. Pity. He preached unity for 4 years and in one serious moment, it`s all gone down the drain. No-one to blame except himself and the Prime Minister who put him in
The President lied to the people. The President should resign. He has disgraced himself. By remaining in office he will disgrace the Presidency.
By recommending that henceforth the “speech from the throne” be delivered by the Prime Minister, Dr Gorg Abela has further shown that he has no real understanding of his role as President and of the reasons underlying the existing speech procedure.
Parliament is made up of the President and a defined number of elected Members. The speech is delivered by the President, as Head of Parliament, to Parliament. The sole purpose of the speech is to set out in very broad terms the agenda for the new legislature, that is, the objectives selected by the people by means of free vote. Those objectives should be drafted and read out in non-partisan terms.
The speech from the throne is not the imposition of a partisan manifesto. There is thus never any place for insulting verbiage or political slogans.
A competent President would firstly refute a speech text so drafted and, if not then suitably revised by the Prime Minister, would himself weed out partisan or offensive wording and confine the speech text to the intended objectives.
That it is now known that the speech was handed to the President at least two days prior to the opening of Parliament and text remained unamended, and that the President now openly declared that constitutional reform should not be obstructed, making also reference to Joseph Muscat’s proposed Second Republic, also gives rise to suspicion of possible collusion between Gorg Abela and Joseph Muscat in promotion and furtherance of that concept. It is a further reason as to why Gorg Abela should gather what little dignity he still retains and step down immediately.
Jekk ikollok il-b**d tirrifjuta li taqrah.
Mhux bajd, izda integrità professjonali. Il-kelma hawnhekk hija unfit for office.
So we either have a President who was scared of contradicting Joseph and went along with reading the speech. Or else he truly believes that that speech was appropriate and saw no harm in reading it out. I don’t know which scenario is worse.
We will be told that the president actually toned it down, but Joseph refused.
The president had the choice of not reading that speech from the throne. He would have gained the people’s respect.
Someone wrote that we could have placed an altar boy instead of this president. He would have learnt the speech by rote like the Christmas eve midnight mass sermon. That would be one notch better.
We learnt that Fenech Adami objected and corrected some wording for a speech from the throne. Abela could have done the same.
He has lost all the respect I had for him.
I did too, and lots of people are saying the same. We will give the message when time comes.
So have thousands of people who have been outraged by his failure to check Joseph’s arrogance.
During the last months of his Presidency he really lost the respect of most people.
The only way to show our disapproval is to refrain from contributing to the Community Chest Fund during L-Istrina and send the donations to other charitable institutions instead – Puttinu Cares, preferably.
Do you know what the word ” respect” means, first of all ?
Respect doesn’t mean unctuousness, Eddy, whatever you and your fellow Maltese may think.
Keep your stupid mentality away from here, Eddy Privitera.
“Nigi nitne**ek mill-kostituzzjoni” – who said that, Eddy? There’s your respect!
Yes. It is what President Gorg Abela and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat do not have for the people.
Respect is earned, not given.
I’m not sure you do Eddy, but just to help you along have a read of this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respect
If the report in The Times is correct – and it must be, because it hasn’t been denied and they would have had that information on good authority if it wasn’t actually leaked by the OPM itself – then it’s time ‘he fell on his sword’. We don’t need a liar and a coward as our Head of State.
I find it quite unacceptable that the President is now pushing the prime minister’s agenda and urging for constitutional reform.
He is even promoting a referendum on the matter.
Since the constitutional reform is turning out to be a matter of political controversy, shouldn’t the President stay clear of it?
Shouldn’t the President have called on the Prime Minister to appoint a coordinator who would not be divisive for starters?
It is actually quite scary that we have a brazen ruthless Prime Minister who is already running roughshod on all forms of usual procedure and regulations (thinking Franco Mercieca, constitutional reform, MEPA so-called-reform, Speaker’s appointment) in his first month of office. Coupled with a spineless President who is just a yes-man.
It IS scary. I can see it unfolding: “You have to destroy in order to create.”
Labour, and JM in particular, is systematically eroding the dignity of the pillars of democratic governance. It has already been done by Mintoff and his horde of ministers. Only this time it is more subtle.
Gone are the demagoguery and vitriolic attacks. Today we are lured by talk of a movement to make Malta belong to us all. At the same time they make mockery of democratic institutions and procedures.
We now learn that George Abela got his ideas about constitutional reform (since before the election campaign) from none other than Franco Debono. GA was perfectly aware of the latter’s antics with his party and yet he didn’t hold back from advocating a reform leading to JM’s suggestion of a Second Republic (probably another of Franco’s megalomania based on the Italian model).
With hindsight, JM’s appointment of FD to head this reform is not only motivated by spite but fits perfectly into his plans for totalitarian power. It’s the same old Labour obsession with (the insecurity of) power in a democratic environment.
It is an insecurity which is bred by an (subconscious?) acknowledgment of their incompetence in playing the democratic game.
George Abela, for all his sweet talk and respectable behaviour, has been moulded by the same Labour principles and psyche. You are quite right in saying he’s not different, after all, from his son’s behaviour in that (in)famous speech during a Labour election campaign meeting.
GA should realise that he has been caught lying/taking the nation for a ride (with his fact twisting and half-truths) and therefore he should not expect us to respect him.The more he speaks about that speech the more he is exposed for his unfitness for his role.
Besides, we don’t have a constitutional crisis now (as we had after the 1981 election result) and he should (at least at this very early stage) let Parliament discuss and decide on the issue of constitutional reform.
Any pronouncements from him (e.g. about a referendum – to let the people decide!) when official talks haven’t even started can only be viewed with suspicion.
GOOD POINT. The President should seek to achieve reform in the constitution by ensuring that the parties work together and reach agreement. He should NOT be campaigning for a referendum.
Thinking deviously, the President’s Speech has been purposely worded to provoke a public outcry of criticism towards the provisions of the Constitution with the ultimate purpose of giving the President a good excuse to suggest reforms to the Constitution.
Seems you are afraid of a referendum on the new draft constitution once it is agreed upon by civil society, with the exception of the PN ?
Mela issa se noqghodu naghmlu referendum u jintefqu dawk il-flus ghal kull kontroversja li tinqala. Tajba din.
Din il-kwistjoni tista’ tigi rrangata billi d-diskors jinkiteb kif ghandu jkun, li ma joffendi u jweggha lil hadd. Xejn izjed.
Jaqrah il-president jew il-prim ministru ma tghamilx differenza. Qatt ma gara hekk u kien hawn diversi presidenti li kull wiehed minnhom qara d-diskors tat-tron. Mela allura nafu x’hini l-problema.
Eddy, what scares me is when the referee throws away his whistle and joins one of the sides in the game.
So the President of the Republic is In, too.
Same thought, same feeling.
I too lost my respect for George Abela. I think he should resign. He served his role ill.
I think you’ll be seeing a lawsuit heading your way. That’s the way Malta works.
Yep. I will never forget the photo of Abela, our ‘President’, screaming into the face of a policeman, during the GWU uprising at the airport, as GWU lawyer.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/GWU-miffed-at-Abela-junior-for-assisting-breakaway-Arriva-union-20120704
A quote from the above link:
“George Abela, a former deputy leader of the Labour party, was the GWU’s legal advisor after his resignation from the PL in 1998. In August 1999, he was one of the union officials who sat in front of a police coach transporting a number of workers who had been arrested during industrial action at Malta International Airport.
But a few months later, he resigned from the union, in disagreement with the GWU’s handling of the court case filed by the government against the union.”
I think it’s only Privitera who hasn’t lost respect for George Abela.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/I-ll-never-hinder-Constitutional-reform-Franco-Debono-20130418
In this Malta Today link we now learn that Franco Debono said “that prior to the political turmoil which characterised the latter years of the previous PN administration, he had met President Abela to discuss Constitutional reform.
“I remember calling on the President at the San Anton Palace to discuss Constitutional reform because back then I felt that he was the only person who could listen to my concerns. I had explained to the President that the government had completely ignored my calls for Constitutional reform and urged him to initiate the process,”” Debono said.
Did the President inform the then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi about Franco’s telephone call and the meeting he had with him?
Alf makes an important observation and raises an equally fundamental question here. What was going on behind the scenes here?
m hawnx nies kattivi daqsom dawn il-laburisti, allovolja kien ragel mighaw Gonzi xorta tradih il-presiident u kellu l ghadir jaghjjar il-gvern ta Gonzi, Shame on you sur president abela.
Gonzi hati daqs kemm hu hati l President. Dak Abela qatt ma haqqu jkun president ta’ Malta.
Mela George Abela il-pappagall ta’ Joseph Muscat?
Jew George Abela il-pappagall ta’ Frankie Tabone?
Lawrence Gonzi has given George Abela the benefit of the doubt. One does not have to follow suit, nor should one, on the other hand, ape KMB with talk of boycotts.
Hmar taqtalu dembu hmar jibqa, I never liked him from day 1.
The Times got it all wrong once again. In its latest poll, it’s asking:
Should ministers and parliamentary secretaries be allowed private practice?
Shouldn’t this have been ‘should MPs wanting to remain in private practice be appointed ministers or parliamentary secretaries’?
Or, “Should ministers show some respect to established protocol?”
I respect all of you who have ‘lost trust now’.
But I tell you one thing: msskom tghallimtu qabel. Laburist, taqtalu denbu, Laburist jibqa.
U nazzjonalist taqtalu denbu, x’jibqa ?
Cittadin serju li dejjem kellu min jiggwidah b’rispett u b’denb jew bla denb DEJJEM jibqa l-ghira tal-Laburisti.
Nazzjonalist taqtalu denbu, isir Laburist.
As I’ve said before I think Abela’s Presidency has been problematic troughout, so for me this is just another nail in the coffin of my respect for the person.
I would refrain from ever using the term ‘the people of Malta’.
In reality there are two peoples. Malta is roughly divided in two, and the positions are so polarized, and as represented by the two political parties, that it is inconceivable that in the near future these two poles would ever close the gap between them and go towards the centre.
The mentalities are too different. Consequently, most of the time, what one does, gets praise or criticism, depending where one is coming from.
I wonder if there could be another take on this speech episode. Would it be conceivable that the President gladly made the original speech public (even at the price of reading it himself) and then, leaving a few days go by, make public his (personal) views about it? Could the contents of this speech have played well in the President’s hands? After all, the President is being criticized for reading the partisan speech, and not for writing it. The real gross offence is thus coming from the writer, not from the messenger.
Or am I thinking/expecting too much of the President to think on these lines?
Abela is no saint. Shrewd, calculating and can be vicious even ruthless if deemed necessary – his son’s behaviour is indeed no surprise at all.
Il-funzjoni tal-Kap tal-Istat Malti hija l-fuq minn sempliciment gbir ta’ fondi ghall-karita.
Ghalkemm ir-rwol tal-Persident f’Malta mhux wiehed ta’ legizlatur, biss nahseb li f’dawn l-ahhar snin morna hafna u hafna lura mis-snin fejn meta thares lejn il-President kont tara verament il-Kap tal-Istat. Hasra.
Let us ALL hope that the new PN leader will have the foresight, acumen and brain-power that our beloved Gonzi has. I do not agree with those who critisize Gonzi for proposing Abela for president. It was a good and in my opinion a very calculated move. Abela, at the time, was the only possible candidate for MLP leadership. We have seen what the elected leader (Muscat) is – just a sham. Good work, Dr. Gonzi and it is a pity that you decided to leave the leadership of our party. The majority have faith in you
He has to look good to Joseph so he will stay on for another term.
We cannot seriously blame Gonzi for George Abela. Gonzi did the right, honourable thing. The mere fact that he’s being beaten for it does not make the act wrong.
I really think that Gonzi was the last man standing. Now all we have is men of straw. This country – which, in itself, is populated by men and women of straw who are ruled by spite and money – could never have really appreciated Dr. Gonzi because he is heads and shoulders above so many that he will be seen as the “outsider”.
This is the sheer reality of it. Otherwise, how can we fathom the massive defeat suffered by Gonzi when the world over praises him.
Yesterday, George Vella was being interviewed on RTK and he said that he had meetings with representatives of North African states and he was proud he was Maltese because (and I quote verbatim) “of the decisions Malta took in the Libyan crisis”.
I would have screamed to point out that Malta took no decisions. Gonzi took the decisions – whilst being bombarded by hateful and spiteful messages sent by our Constitutional moderator Franco Debono – and had the decisions been taken by George Vella himself (not to speak of his other friends, such as AST), we would have been the embarrassment of Europe – not to mention the European villains. George Vella certainly did not stick up for the two defectors two years ago.
Gonzi was too good for us. He would have had a stellar political career in another State. However, we’re too stupid, as a nation, to see talent and brilliance and acknowledge. It’s either that or we’re too envious. Either way, we’re screwed now because we have men of straw leading us.
boycott for the kitchen garden
It was very easy for George Abela to remain neutral under a PN government. As soon as Labour were up he slipped badly on the very first occassion he should have shown worth. Labour work for their own interest, nothing else. Labour won’t work.
Imagine the Pope giving a speech from the Vatican deploring other religions, Joseph Muscat would have seen it as normal, mentalita Mintofjana at its best
SHAME ON YOU, MR.PRESIDENT.
Joseph qabdu f’nassa biex telliflu giehu.
Finally something we agree on.
Most incompetent president we ever had. He had a living out of sitting on the fence and when he finally slides down, he shows his true colours.
He was never the President of Malta, just an NGO for charity.
To justify the insolent speech which was written by the PM and which he had to read Dr. Abela mentioned all the other speeches which were read by the Presidents of the time when the PN won the elections. However he forgot(?) to mention the 1996 one. Lapsus?