- Guido de Marco
Infobox President
name =Professor Guido de Marco
order =6th President of the Republic of Malta
caption =Guido de Marco aboard USS "La Salle", 2003
imagesize =
term_start =1999
term_end =2004
primeminister =Edward Fenech Adami Lawrence Gonzi
predecessor =Ugo Mifsud Bonnici
successor =Edward Fenech Adami
birth_date =Birth date and age|1931|7|22|df=y
birth_place =Valletta ,Malta
spouse =
party =
languagesspoken =Malta, English, ItalianGuido de Marco (born
July 22 ,1931 ) wasPresident of Malta from 1999 to 2004.Prof. Guido de Marco was born inValletta ,Malta onJuly 22 1931 , son of the [http://www.maltagenealogy.com/libro%20d'Oro/demarco.html late Emanuele and Giovanna née Raniolo] . He was educated at St Joseph High School, St. Aloysius' College and theUniversity of Malta . He graduated as aBachelor of Arts in 1952, inPhilosophy ,Economics and Italian and in 1955 as aDoctor of Laws . For a time he served as a lawyer for the government.He unsuccessfully contested the 1962 elections with the
Democratic Nationalist Party (a splinter group of thePartit Nazzjonalista or Nationalist Party). He subsequently joined the main party and was elected for the first time in the interests of the Nationalist Party to theHouse of Representatives of Malta in April 1966 and was returned to Parliament at everyGeneral Election until 1998. Appointed Secretary General of the Nationalist Party in 1972, he served until 1977 when elected Deputy Leader and had since been uninterruptedly confirmed until his resignation in March 1999.When the Nationalist Party was returned to office in 1987, Prof. de Marco was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior and Justice. During his tenure, Prof. de Marco introduced several bills in the House of Representatives that integrated important conventions, such as the
European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law. As Interior Minister he led the reform and modernization of the Police Force and founded theMalta Police Academy .As Minister of the Interior and Justice he attended Conference of European Law Ministers in
Lisbon (1988), and the Hague (1989) and of the Commonwealth Law Ministers inNew Zealand (1990). It was also during his tenure that Malta became a member of thePompidou Group , where he participated at its meeting of Ministers held in London in 1989. Prof. de Marco led Malta's delegation to theUnited Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs held inNew York .He was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Justice in May 1990 and Minister of Foreign Affairs between February 1992 and October 1996. One of his first acts as Foreign Minister was submitting Malta's application for membership of the
European Communities in Brussels onJuly 16 ,1990 . Stressing Malta's European vocation, Prof. de Marco also underlined the validity of the Mediterranean dimension. He continued to promote and pursue the principle that the Euro-Mediterranean dialogue was a basic element in creating structures to consolidate regional security and co-operation. He was also instrumental in consolidating Malta's active contribution to the work of international organisations, including theUnited Nations , theOrganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), theCouncil of Europe and the Commonwealth.On
September 18 ,1990 , Prof. Guido de Marco was electedPresident of the United Nations General Assembly (45th Session). During this time he initiated a dialogue, that later led to a presidential motion unanimously approved, to revitalize theUnited Nations General Assembly and other aspects of reform necessary during a time of transition in international relations. Representing theUnited Nations General Assembly , as its President, Prof. de Marco undertook a number of diplomatic initiatives leading to his visit to the refugee camps in theOccupied Territories andJordan , toEthiopia andAlbania .Other initiatives include his meetings with
United States Secretary of State ,James Baker during theGulf War and with H.H.Pope John Paul II . He was also invited toMoscow for talks by the USSR Council of Ministers and to thePeople's Republic of China . As President of theUnited Nations General Assembly he also visited theNorth Korea andSouth Korea in May 1991, leading to the admission of these two countries to theUnited Nations , as well asChernobyl andCzechoslovakia . During his Presidency, Prof. de Marco also proposed a new role for theTrusteeship Council , an initiative which was pursued by Malta within the United Nations and which is still under discussion to date.Between 1990 and 1996, Prof. de Marco also spearheaded other key initiatives in both the
bilateral andmultilateral fields including the expansion of Malta's representation overseas and the conclusion of important agreements in areas essential for economic growth and co-operation. He headed Malta's delegation to the variousCSCE /OSCE Conferences. In January 1992, at the CSCE Council in Prague, Malta launched Prof. de Marco's initiative to declare the CSCE a regional arrangement in terms of Chapter VIII of theUnited Nations Charter , a proposal which was later approved by the Heads of State and Government at theHelsinki Summit . He also continued to promote dialogue between the CSCE and the Mediterranean non-participating States. Prof. de Marco has given particular attention to the Maltese Community overseas and has visited Maltese migrants inAustralia ,Canada , theUnited States , theUnited Kingdom and smaller communities in a number of other countries.Prof. de Marco was elected by the
House of Representatives of Malta to be one of its representatives at theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in 1967 where he remained for almost twenty years as a member of this Parliamentary Assembly. He served as member and rapporteur on several occasions of theLegal Affairs Committee and Vice President of theCommittee on Rules of Procedure . During 1996-1998 he was re-elected by the House of Representatives as a member of Malta's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, during which time he was elected Chairman of the newly constitutedMonitoring Committee . He also continued to serve in his capacity as Vice-President on theIndependent World Commission on Oceans .Between 1996 and 1998 Prof. de Marco served as Shadow Minister and Opposition Spokesman on Foreign Affairs and as a member of the
Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs .He was re-appointed
Deputy Prime Minister of Malta andMinister of Foreign Affairs onSeptember 8 ,1998 , following the Nationalist Party's victory at the 1998 General Elections, a capacity which he held until his nomination to the Presidency of Malta. On theSeptember 11 1998 , he presented Malta's request for the reactivation of its application for membership to theEuropean Union to H.E.Wolfgang Schüssel , thenForeign Minister of Austria andPresident of the Council of the European Union .He was, after the termination of office as President of Malta, appointed Chairman of the
Commonwealth Foundation . [http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/about/stafflist/index.cfm?mode=view&staff_id=21]He is married to Violet ("née" Saliba). They have a son, Mario, and two daughters, Gianella and Fiorella, all members of the legal profession.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.