Lawrence Gonzi

Lawrence Gonzi

Prime Minister of Malta
Incumbent
Assumed office
23 March 2004

President: Guido de Marco
Eddie Fenech Adami
George Abela

Deputy : Tonio Borg

Preceded by : Eddie Fenech Adami

Born : 1 July 1953 (age 56)
Pietà, Malta

Political party : Nationalist Party
European People’s Party

Spouse(s) : Catherine née Callus

Children : David
Mikela
Paul

Religion : Roman Catholic
Signature :

Political life

Speaker and Member of Parliament
In 1987 Lawrence Gonzi contested the general elections unsuccessfully with the Nationalist Party. He was appointed Speaker of the House in 1988 and, in 1992, he was reappointed to the post with a unanimous vote. Gonzi contested the general elections again in 1996 and this time he was successful. As an opposition MP he served as Shadow Minister for social policy, secretary of the Nationalist parliamentary group, party whip and later general secretary of the party.
In 1998 he was returned and appointed Minister for Social Policy. In May 1999 he successfully contested the post of Deputy Leader of the party and was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the House. Following another Nationalist victory at the polls in 2003, Lawrence Gonzi was reconfirmed as Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the House.
Prime Minister
Following the resignation of Eddie Fenech Adami as party leader, Gonzi won the leadership contest held in March 2004. He was appointed Prime Minister shortly after Adami stepped down to give way for his succession. From 2004 onwards, Gonzi took under his responsibility the finance portfolio as Minister of Finance. As Minister of Finance, he successfully managed the process to achieve the Maastricht criteria, propelling Malta into the Eurozone.
Following the general election held on 8 March 2008, Gonzi was reconfirmed as Prime Minister. He relinquished his post as Minister of Finance but assumed responsibility for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA), in particular its reform. He was reelected Nationalist Party leader at the general council meeting on 4 May 2008.
UN General Assembly
On 24 September 2009, Lawrence Gonzi addressed the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Gonzi began by congratulating the unanimously elected new UNGA president, Ali Abdussalam Treki, whom he described as a seasoned politician and diplomat, and looked forward to the continuation of the close ties Malta has with Libya.
Gonzi said that in 2009 Malta is celebrating three anniversaries:
1. Malta’s independence in September 1964;
2. The 21st anniversary of Malta’s formally tabling the framework for the Climate Change Convention at the UNGA’s 43rd session in 1988; and,
3. The 15th anniversary of the Law of the Sea Convention of 1994, which was also originally sponsored by Malta.
This year, Malta is proposing that UNGA should revise the Law of the Sea Convention. In addition, and to balance the UN Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, Malta is proposing that UNGA should draft a UN Declaration of Human Duties.
Gonzi went on to say that:
• Malta favoured a two-state solution in the Middle East;
• A Liaison Office is opening in Malta to act as a bridge between the European Union and the League of Arab States;
• Malta is carrying a very heavy burden in dealing with illegal immigrants; and,
• Malta will play its part in meeting the global challenges facing all UN member states.[2]
Lockerbie disaster
In September 2009, a petition was addressed to the President of UNGA calling upon the United Nations to “institute a full public inquiry” into the Lockerbie disaster.[3] On 3 October 2009, Malta was asked to table a UN resolution supporting the petition, which was signed by 20 people including the families of the Lockerbie victims, authors, journalists, professors, politicians and parliamentarians, as well as Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The signatories considered that a UN inquiry could help remove “many of the deep misgivings which persist in lingering over this tragedy” and could also eliminate Malta from this terrorist act. Malta was brought into the case because the prosecution argued that the two accused Libyans, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, had placed the bomb on an Air Malta aircraft before it was transferred at Frankfurt airport to a feeder flight destined for London’s Heathrow airport, from which Pan Am Flight 103 departed. The Maltese government responded saying that the demand for a UN inquiry was “an interesting development that would be deeply considered, although there were complex issues surrounding the event.”[4]
In November 2009, Lawrence Gonzi denied reports that Malta was to interrogate Tony Gauci, the chief prosecution witness in the Lockerbie bombing case. Gonzi reiterated the government’s stand that Malta should not investigate the case: “Our position was always that Malta had nothing to do with the terrorist attack and it has never changed. Over the years we cooperated with every investigation and we think there is nothing to justify a change.”[5]

Family

Lawrence Gonzi is the son of Luigi Gonzi and Ines Galea and grandnephew of Monsignor Sir Michael Gonzi, the former Archbishop of Malta. His younger brother is Michael Gonzi, a Nationalist backbencher.
Gonzi is married to Catherine née Callus, and they have three children: David, Mikela and Paul.[6]

References

1. ^ “Office of the Prime Minister”. http://www.gov.mt/frame.asp?l=2&url=http://www.opm.gov.mt/. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
2. ^ “HE Mr Lawrence Gonzi, Prime Minister of Malta, addresses 64th UN General Assembly”. http://www.un.org/ga/64/generaldebate/MT.shtml. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
3. ^ “Petition to UN General Assembly to open Pan Am 103 inquiry”. The Firm magazine. 2009-09-14. http://www.firmmagazine.com/news/1706
4. ^ Caroline Muscat (2009-10-04). “Malta asked to support demands for UN inquiry on Lockerbie”. Times of Malta. http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091004/local/malta-asked-to-support-demands-for-un-inquiry-on-lockerbie. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
5. ^ Cynthia Busuttil (2009-11-02). “PM insists Malta will not probe prime witness”. Times of Malta. http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091102/local/pm-insists-malta-will-not-probe-prime-witness.
6. ^ “Gonzi family tree”. http://www.maltagenealogy.com/libro%20d’Oro/gonzi.html. Retrieved 2009-11-02.