NEWS | Wednesday, 07 January 2009

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President Eddie Fenech Adami is pushing for the appointment of Joe Borg, the European Commissioner for Fisheries, to become his successor when he vacates his seat later this year.
Although Borg is angling for a reappointment to a second term in Brussels, his return to Malta to take up residency at San Anton is expected to pave the way for Richard Cachia Caruana’s plan to become Malta’s next Commissioner.
While Eddie Fenech Adami has apparently held no influence over Lawrence Gonzi, he still believes he can sway the choice of President.
Cachia Caruana, the permanent representative to the EU, wants the high-profile posting in Brussels to secure himself another five years at the heart of European politics.
Fenech Adami is supporting his former head of secretariat, which is why his predilection for Borg is expected to open up the way for Cachia Caruana.
It is also a move that will annoy Louis Galea, the PN stalwart once touted for the presidency.
Former Nationalist minister Galea served in all of Fenech Adami’s administrations as social policy and education minister.
But unlike Galea, Joe Borg is uncontroversial, likeable, and above all free of a confrontational past – an “acceptable” candidate for the presidency.
In the past, Galea was hit by major procurement scandals at the Auxiliary Workers Training Scheme and the Foundation for Tomorrow Schools, where thousands of liri in direct orders were allegedly awarded to his constituents.
When Galea failed to be elected in the last general elections, after his seat was taken up by newcomer Franco Debono, he was appointed Speaker of the House.

Gonzi has already made moves that point in the direction of Joe Borg, whose candidature now definitely overshadows that of Louis Galea.
In the meantime, talk of a possible alternative in the form of Lino Spiteri, the former Labour minister, appears to be just part of the game Gonzi is playing with Labour leader Joseph Muscat.
Muscat’s choice for president has not been welcomed by people like veteran MP Joe Debono Grech, George Vella and former leader Alfred Sant and some of his supporters. During his short-lived government, Spiteri fell out with Sant and eventually resigned from finance minister in 1997, crippling Labour’s credibility at the time.
As a minister who served under the Dom Mintoff and Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici administrations of the 1980s, Spiteri comes with a political baggage that is greatly resented by Nationalists. There is no doubt that Gonzi will not be shocking voters with such a daring choice.
As Spiteri’s nomination becomes a source of division within Labour, Gonzi will wait until the last moment to spring Joe Borg’s name upon the public.
John Dalli, the social policy minister, is also being touted for the post of European Commissioner.
But Dalli is not planning on such a career change that could uproot him from his home. His refusal would only make it “easier” for Gonzi to propose the job to Cachia Caruana, making it difficult for Dalli to oppose his decision.
Relations between Dalli and Cachia Caruana have been notoriously strained for years.

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