Myriam Spiteri Debono

Myriam Spiteri Debono (born 25 October 1952) 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 from 1996 to 1998, the first woman to hold that position.

Early life and career

Spiteri Debono was born Miriam Zammit in Victoria, Gozo, to Pawlu Zammit and his wife. 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. However, she was elected to the party's national executive in 1982 and served as the party's propaganda secretary.

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

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

Presidency

On 21 March 2024, she was reported to be the front runner to be appointed President of the Republic of Malta. The following week, this was confirmed in a joint statement issued from the offices of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. 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. She is also the third person from Gozo to be appointed to this office, following Anton Buttigieg and Ċensu Tabone.

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.

Personal life

Spiteri Debono lived most of her adult life in Birkirkara, Malta. They have three children and four grandchildren.

Honours National honours