Our parliamentary representatives will soon have the privilege of choosing who the next President of the Republic shall be without then having to seek the blessing of some foreign Head of State. Much bigger and richer ex-British colonies like Canada and Australia still have not been able to do that, let alone relish the undoubted pride of having a national language.

The forthcoming end of Eddie Fenech Adami’s hugely controversial presidency – the Napoleonic aspect of the appointment, not the actual handling of the Office – quite naturally provokes a new discussion about the nation’s highest post. Should the system of appointment remain the same, that is, subject to the whims and wills of the existing parliamentary majority, or should we opt for the more democratic process of universal suffrage?

Since there seems to be little hope of a political deal on the system of presidential appointment, most of the ongoing debate is about who should be considered for president at a time when the difference in Parliament is a one-seat fig leaf smaller than that of the renowned giant’s in that same palace’s courtyard.

The Labour Party is going a positive step further by taking the initiative of submitting, soon, a short list of possible candidates to be discussed with the party in government. Even more refreshing and forward-looking is the party leader’s declaration that the list will not be restricted to individuals with a political past, but it will also include candidates from all walks of life on this sickeningly polarised island.

As regards the government, there have only been groans and grunts so far about the issue. It does not seem exactly willing to engage in the debate, an attitude that raises many a doubt over the possibility of a new beginning when it comes to the presidency. Why a new beginning? Many seem to have forgotten the fact that Malta’s first President of the Republic, Anthony Mamo, was never directly involved in politics and he remains, credit to Dom Mintoff’s government that had appointed him in 1974, the most popular presidential figure we have had since the setting up of the Republic.

Many also seem to have suspicions that the ruling party already knows who it wants to fill the high post. It is still caught in the old mentality of retaining the privilege as another way of either rewarding old war dogs or creating space for new ones by making of this important appointment nothing more than your average Dutch promotion trick.

The present Speaker of the House of Representatives, Louis Galea, who was appointed after failing to retain his parliamentary seat in the general election of last March, has long been muted as the favourite for the Palace post. That way, it is argued, his post as Speaker could either be taken up by another failed, obviously disgruntled , ex-minister, or by an existing MP whose upgrading would then pave the way for someone else, possibly also disgruntled, to be elected to the House via a by-election.

In this New Year, however, does the country need all this dilly-dallying over such an important position as it enters what could possibly be the worst financial and psychological crisis of the past five decades? People will certainly need reassurance that our representatives in Parliament are in tune with their anxieties and concerns, and not lost in time-honoured political pique and downright gamesmanship.

There is no doubt that the general public craves a president without any obvious political links. This is not meant to deride any of the past occupants of the post, all of whom undoubtedly and in their own special ways did their best, but more in substantiating the need for true national reconciliation. What Anthony Mamo did between 1974 and 1979, a new non-political president can achieve in this period of social restlessness.

The ball is in the government’s court. It can either further handicap itself by committing an auto goal, or it can show it has grown out of the old political mould by agreeing to give Malta a president with real unifying potential. Present-day and ex-politicians need not feel robbed of anything when something as serious as national unity is made to be the deciding factor.

The doubts persist, however. If it is true that the general secretary of a supposedly independent national union representing small and medium sized industries and shop-owners is to contest this year’s European Parliamentary Elections on behalf of the party in government, and that with the gleeful approval of Castille, then things on the national boat cannot be in for a calm ride. We seem destined for more unwelcome and unhealthy party-government coherence, the way personal data has sadly been used and abused in the sadder aftermath of the MITTS scandal that saw no less than 20,000 e-mail passwords tossed around like oven-fresh doughnuts.

The next President of the Republic, whoever he or she may be, will have a hell of a time trying to untie the grave political knot that resulted from the last general election. If politically connected, he or she will have an even tougher time.