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Myriam Spiteri Debono

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Her Excellency
Myriam Spiteri Debono
KUOM
Official portrait, 2024
11th President of Malta
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 April 2024
Prime MinisterRobert Abela
Preceded byGeorge Vella
Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office
September 1996 – October 1998
Preceded byLawrence Gonzi
Succeeded byAnton Tabone
Personal details
Born
Miriam Zammit

(1952-10-25) 25 October 1952 (age 72)
Victoria, Gozo, Crown Colony of Malta
Political partyLabour
SpouseAnthony Spiteri Debono
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Malta
OccupationNotary public
Websitepresident.gov.mt

Myriam Spiteri Debono[a] (born 25 October 1952)[1] is a Maltese politician who is the 11th and current President of Malta. She is the first Gozitan woman to be elected to the position. She was also the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Malta[2][3] from 1996 to 1998, the first woman to hold that position.[4]

Early life and career

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Spiteri Debono was born Miriam Zammit in Victoria, Gozo, to Pawlu Zammit and his wife.[5] She received her formal childhood education in Gozo and later attended the University of Malta where she studied English Literature and Linguistics, graduating in 1973, and founded the Socialist Students Union.[6][7] She also studied law and graduated as a Notary Public in 1980.[8][6]

Her first public office appointments included that of chair of the Cooperatives Board, and as a founding member of the Gender Equality Commission.[8]

She was a candidate for the Malta Labour Party in five general elections (1981, 1987, 1992, 1996, 2003), but was never elected as a member of parliament.[9][10] However, she was elected to the party's national executive in 1982 and served as the party's propaganda secretary.[6][11]

Spiteri Debono served as president of the Malta Labour Party's women section between 1993 and 1996.[12][13]

In September 1996, she was appointed Malta's Speaker of the House of Representatives by Prime Minister Alfred Sant.[7] She was the first woman to serve in this role in Malta and was replaced by Anton Tabone in October 1998.[4][7]

In January 2023, she was proposed for the role of Standards Commissioner by the Nationalist Party, however, she declined to be formally considered for the role claiming that she was not suited for it nor was she interested in taking the position.[14]

Presidency

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On 21 March 2024, she was reported to be the front runner to be appointed President of the Republic of Malta.[15][16] The following week, this was confirmed in a joint statement issued from the offices of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.[17] Malta's House of Representatives voted unanimously to elect Spiteri Debono as Malta's 11th President on 27 March 2024, becoming the first president to be elected using the new constitutional reforms of 2020 including the new requirement of two-thirds of the parliament's approval for the presidential nominee.[8]

Spiteri Debono is the third woman to serve as President of Malta, after Agatha Barbara and Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.[18] She is also the third person from Gozo to be appointed to this office, following Anton Buttigieg and Ċensu Tabone.[8]

She was inaugurated on 4 April 2024.[19]

At the time of her appointment she admitted to being a technophobe; owning a flip phone and preferring to dictate her letters and other correspondence to an assistant, leaving emails to an email address in her husband's name.[20]

Personal life

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Spiteri Debono has lived most of her adult life in Birkirkara, Malta.[13] She is married to notary Anthony Spiteri Debono and they have three children, Elena, George and Maria Kristina. Spiteri Debono and her husband have four grandchildren: Alexandra, Paul, Pippa and Beppe.[21]

Honours

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National honours

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Notes

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  1. ^ also known as Miriam Spiteri Debono

References

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  1. ^ MIN HI MYRIAM SPITERI DEBONO (in Maltese)
  2. ^ "Parlament Ta' Malta". www.parlament.mt. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Parliament's Standing Orders 'only stencilled papers' - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Kristy Debono to chair this evening's plenary session". Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  5. ^ Sciberras, Clara (5 April 2024). "Watch: 'Don't Put Your Trust In Princes' - Malta's New President Shares Late Father's Words Of Wisdom". Lovin Malta. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Meilak, Nicole. "Who is Myriam Spiteri Debono, the former Speaker set to become the next President?". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  7. ^ a b c "Speaker of the House - Hon. Myriam Spiteri Debono, Eighth Legislature (1996 - 1998)". Parlament.mt.
  8. ^ a b c d Magri, Giulia (27 March 2024). "Parliament Unanimously Approves Myriam Spiteri Debono as Malta's next President". Times of Malta. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  9. ^ Newsroom, T. V. M. (28 March 2024). "Notary Myriam Spiteri Debono is Malta's third female President and third Gozitan president". TVMnews.mt. Retrieved 29 March 2024. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  10. ^ Galea, Albert (7 April 2024). "Redemption, representation, maturity: The principles that Myriam Spiteri Debono wants to stand for". The Malta Independent. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  11. ^ Cachia, Paul. "Min hi Myriam Spiteri Debono?". Newsbook.
  12. ^ Ltd, Allied Newspapers (3 November 2013). "Press digest". Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  13. ^ a b Zammit, Mark Lawrence (31 March 2024). "What do they think of Myriam Spiteri Debono?". Times of Malta. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  14. ^ Xuereb, Matthew (5 January 2023). "Ex-Labour speaker not interested in standard commissioner job". Times of Malta. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  15. ^ Grech, Herman (21 March 2024). "Myriam Spiteri Debono is frontrunner to become next President of the Republic". Times of Malta. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  16. ^ Sansone, Kurt. "Myriam Spiteri Debono could be the next president". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  17. ^ Arena, Jessica (26 March 2024). "Government and Opposition in agreement on Presidential picks". Times of Malta. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  18. ^ Teuma, Owen (27 March 2024). "Id-deputati kollha tal-Parlament jivvutaw favur Myriam Spiteri Debono bħala President".
  19. ^ Arena, Jessica (4 April 2024). "Myriam Spiteri Debono is sworn in as 11th President of Malta". Times of Malta. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  20. ^ Zammit, Mark Lawrence (7 April 2024). "Watch: President: 'We're slowly losing the sense of what's right and wrong'". Times of Malta. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  21. ^ "Biography: President of Malta Myriam Spiteri Debono - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
Political offices
Preceded by Speaker of the House of Representatives
1996–1998 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of Malta
2024–present 		Incumbent
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