Born in Valletta, the son of Emmanuele De Marco and Giovanna née Raniolo, Guido was educated at St Aloysius College and the Royal University of Malta (RUM) where he graduated NP (1951), BA in philosophy, economics, and Italian (1952), and LLD (1955). In 1967 he was appointed lecturer and later professor of criminal law at the UM. He was defence counsel in several cases involving human rights.
Active in politics since his student days when he set up a PN committee at the RUM, De Marco was also the editor of Encounter and The Leader, organs of the Nationalist youth movement. He was elected president of the SRC in 1953 and in the same year he organised the first National Congress of Maltese Students.
In 1964 de Marco was appointed crown counsel at the crown advocate general’s office, a post he relinquished two years later to contest successfully the 1966 elections in the interests of the PN and he was returned to parliament in all general elections up to 1998.
DeMarco always contested the 1st district, which comprises Valletta, and the 7th, 8th or 10th districts. In 1966 (812 1st district and 2,449 8th district), in 1971 (1542 1st and 3,213 8th district), in 1976 (2,417 1st and 2,631 7th), in 1981 (3,215 1st and 3,561 7th), in 1987 (3,891 1st and 3,699 7th), in 1992 ( 2,125 1st), in 1996 (2,975 1st and 3,104 10th), and in 1998 (3,228 1st and 2,815 10th).
He was the PN’s parliament spokesman on justice, parliamentary affairs, and human rights since 1973. From 1972-1977, he was the PN’s secretary general and later deputy leader (1977-1998).
De Marco was appointed deputy prime minister and minister of the interior and justice in 1987, and minister of foreign affairs and justice in 1990 and presented Malta’s application for membership of the EU at Brussels in July 1990. Appointed deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs after the 1998 PN electoral victory, on 11 September 1998 he presented Malta’s request for the reactivation of its application for membership to the EU.
De Marco held the post of foreign minister until April 1999, when he was elected President of Malta on 4 April, and served as President till April 2004.
De Marco represented the Maltese parliament in the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly for almost 20 years.
Guido de Marco was a Maltese politician who serves as the sixth president of Malta from 1999 to 2004. He also served as deputy prime minister, minister of the interior and justice, and minister for foreign affairs. He was elected President of the 45th session of the United Nations General Assemebly in 1990 and Chairman of the Commonwealth Foundation in 2004.
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