Edward
Fenech Adami was elected President of the Republic on 4th
April 2004.
Edward
Fenech Adami was born in 1934, the son of a customs officer.
He was educated at the Jesuits College and the University of
Malta, where he first studied economics and the classics and
later law. He was called to the bar in 1959.
Dr.
Fenech Adami joined the Christian Democratic Nationalist
Party (PN) in the early 1960s, establishing a reputation as
a reserved but determined and capable constituency official.
He entered parliament in 1969 and in 1977, less than ten
years later, after having served in a number of senior party
posts, including president of the Administrative and General
Councils, he was elected party leader, succeeding Dr.
Giorgio Borg-Olivier.
Since 1969, he has been
returned to Parliament at every General Election and as
Leader of his Party won five popular elections, 1981, 1987,
1992, 1998 and 2003. In 1981, although the Nationalist Party
obtained an absolute majority of votes, it did not succeed
to win a majority of seats in Parliament, and therefore
remained in Opposition. Constitutional changes were then
made to guarantee that the party winning an absolute
majority of votes would have a parliamentary majority as
happened in 1987.
Between
1987 and 1996, President Eddie Fenech Adami, as Prime
Minister, ushered in a major period of change for Malta. The
country's physical infrastructure was completely overhauled
as were the legal and business structures. Trade was
liberalized, whilst telecommunications, banking and
financial services were deregulated and/or privatised. Malta
also began a period of integration with the European Union
when its application was presented on the 16th
July 1990.
Between
1996 and 1998 Dr. Fenech Adami served as Leader of the
Opposition until his Party was returned to Government in
September 1998. Dr Fenech Adami served a further five
years as Prime Minister and Leader of his Party. Malta's EU
application, which was put on hold by the previous Labour
government, was reactivated. Negotiations on EU membership
were concluded by December 2002. In April 2003 Dr
Edward Fenech Adami was again confirmed as Prime Minister,
following another electoral victory.
A
few days later, on the 16th April, 2003, Dr
Fenech Adami signed Malta's Accession Treaty with the
European Union, together with nine other Heads of Government
of countries set to become EU members on the 1st
of May 2004.
As
Prime Minister Dr Eddie Fenech Adami, attended various EU
Summits and also represented Malta at various Commonwealth
Meetings. As Leader of his Party he attended various summits
of the European Peoples Party. In December 2003,Dr
Fenech Adami received the European of the Year 2003 Award
from the influential Brussels-based newspaper European Voice
in recognition of his unfaltering efforts to bring Malta
into the European Union.
On
the 7th February 2004, upon reaching his 70th
birthday, Dr Fenech Adami tendered his resignation as
Nationalist Party Leader. On the 23rd March
2004, Dr Edward Fenech Adami resigned his premiership as
well as his parliamentary seat.
Dr
Edward Fenech Adami is married to Mary nee Sciberras and
they have five children, John, Beppe, Michael, Maria and
Luigi.
The Prime Minister
Dr. Lawrence Gonzi
Dr Lawrence Gonzi has been serving as the Prime Minister
of Malta since March 2004. Re-elected as Prime Minister in
March 2008 for a further five year term, Lawrence Gonzi has
continued to transform the Maltese islands into a modern and
dynamic EU country.
Born on the 1st of July, 1953 in Valletta, Lawrence Gonzi,
the elder of three siblings, received his formal education
at the Archbishop’s Seminary in Rabat, and was an active
member of the Circolo Gioventu` Cattolica.
His interest in politics wakened during his Law Studies at
the University of Malta from where he graduated as a lawyer
in 1975. Following that he practiced law in a private firm
and later on worked as a company lawyer with the Mizzi
Organisation for whom he served as Group Chairman between
1989 and 1997.
Soon after his graduation, Lawrence Gonzi actively engaged
himself in the Voluntary Sector, particularly in the sectors
related to disability issues and mental health issues. He
was also the General President of the Malta Catholic Action
Movement between 1976 and 1986.
He was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives on
10th October 1988 during the Sixth Legislature (1988-1992),
and on the 5th April 1992 he was unanimously re-elected
Speaker for the Seventh Legislature (1992-1996). His tenure
as Speaker of the House of Representatives exposed his
modest but firm bearing, which has helped calm frayed
tempers during quite difficult moments for the House.
Lawrence Gonzi contested the October 1996 General Elections
and was elected to Parliament. In November 1996, he was
appointed Opposition Party Whip, Secretary to the
Parliamentary Group and Shadow Minister for Social Policy. A
year after he was elected Secretary General of the
Nationalist Party.
Following the September 1998 General Elections, Lawrence
Gonzi was appointed Minister for Social Policy and Leader of
the House of Representatives. Between May 1999 and March
2004 he served as Deputy Prime Minister.
On the 23rd March 2004, Lawrence Gonzi took oath of office
as Prime Minister of Malta. Lawrence Gonzi was also Minister
of Finance between 2004 and 2008.
On the of 1st May, 2004 Malta joined the European Union and
as Prime Minister, Dr. Gonzi was succesfully guiding Malta
through a restructuring process which resulted in Malta’s
economy fulfilling the required criteria for the adoption of
the euro as Malta’s national currency from the 1st of
January 2008.
As Head of the Maltese Governemnt, Dr. Gonzi hosted the
2005 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which was
successfully organised and held in Malta.
During the first months of his premiership Lawrence Gonzi
embarked upon a drive to improve management of public
finances, focused sharply upon improving Malta’s
competitiveness in the international market, and accelerated
the restructuring of the public sector. Extensive public
consultation is a marked characteristic of a new style of
politics introduced during his tenure.
Lawrence Gonzi is married to educator Catherine nee’ Callus
and have three children: David, Mikela and Paul.
The Chief Justice
Dr. Vincent De
Gaetano
Born in Sliema on 17 August, 1952, Dr
De Gaetano was educated at the Jesuit College of St.
Aloysius, at the Royal University of Malta and at the
University of Cambridge.
He was
called to the bar in 1976.In 1979 he was appointed Senior Counsel for the
Republic and in 1988 Assistant Attorney General in the
Attorney-General’s Office. Between 1989 and 1994 he served
as Deputy Attorney General. Whilst
serving in the Attorney General’s Office, Dr De Gaetano
was one of the prosecutors before the Criminal Court and
Court of Criminal Appeal. He
was also responsible for providing general legal advice to
Government in matters of public law and contributed to the
legislative drafting particularly in the fields of public
law and criminal law.
In 1994 Dr
De Gaetano was appointed as a Judge of the Superior Courts.
Dr
Degaetano has served on various international Boards and
Committees. Between
1988 and 1994 he was a member of the ad hoc Committee of
Experts on the Legal Aspect of Territorial Asylum, Refugees
and Stateless Persons of the Council of Europe. In 1988 he was also appointed Malta’s representative on the
Steering Committee on Legal Co-operation of the Council of
Europe. Dr De
Gaetano was elected Chairman of this Committee in January
1998, a post he held until December 1999. He
was also the Chairman of the Multidisciplinary Group on
Corruption of the Council of Europe between 1995 and 1997.
Dr De Gaetano is a founding member of the Association of
Judges and Magistrates of Malta. In
April 2002 he was elected from among the Judges to be a
member of the Commission for the Administration of Justice.
Dr De
Gaetano has published various papers and articles both
locally and abroad.
He is
married to Marie-Therese nee’ Ambrogio and has two
children.
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Hon. Dr Tonio Borg, LL.D., M.P.
Dr Tonio Borg was born in Floriana, Malta on the 12th of May,
1957. He was educated at St Aloysius' College, Birkirkara and the
University of Malta, from where he graduated as Doctor of Laws in
1979.
As a lawyer in private practice, Dr Borg specialised in Human
Rights cases. Dr Borg is also lecturer in Public Law at the
University of Malta. He was active in the Nationalist Party Movement
and between 1983 and 1985 he was a member of the Executive of the
European Union Young Christian Democrats. Between 1988-1995 Dr Borg
was President of the General Council of the Nationalist Party.
Between 1987 and 1992, Dr Tonio Borg was Director of Mid-Med Bank
Ltd.
In 1990, Dr Borg was appointed member of the European Committee
for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Punishment or
Treatment. In this capacity he formed part of the Council of Europe
delegations which visited prisons in Sweden, Italy, Greece, the
United Kingdom and Bulgaria. He was a member of the Malta
Environment and Planning Authority between September 1992 and April
1995.
Dr Borg was elected to Parliament in 1992, 1996, 1998 and 2003 in
the interests of the Nationalist Party.
Between 1992 and 1995, he was member of the Maltese Parliamentary
Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
and was also member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee of the
European Parliament and Maltese House of Representatives 1992 - 1995
and 1996 - 1998.
Dr Borg was Minister for Home Affairs between April 1995 and
October 1996 and was Party spokesman for Home Affairs between
October 1996 and September 1998.
Following the Nationalist Party victory at the General Election
of September 1998, Dr Tonio Borg was re-appointed Minister for Home
Affairs on 8th September 1998.
Dr Tonio Borg was appointed Minister for Justice and Home Affairs
following the Nationalist Party general elections victory in April
2003. In March 2004, Dr Tonio Borg was elected deputy leader of the
Nationalist Party and subsequently he was appointed as Deputy Prime
Minister, Minister for Justice and Home Affairs and Leader of the
House of Representatives by the new Prime Minister Dr Lawrence
Gonzi.
Following the return to power of the Nationalist Party in the
March 2008 general elections, Dr Tonio Borg was appointed by Prime
Minister Dr Lawrence Gonzi as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Leader of the House of Representatives.
Dr Borg is married to Adele née Galea, and they have three
children Daniela, Mark and Adriana.
