The appointment of a President is a debate that grips the country each time the term of office of the incumbent is about to finish. It is easy to recall that in 2004, the decision to appoint Dr Eddie Fenech Adami as President, just two months after he had resigned from the post of Prime Minister and Nationalist Party leader, had not been welcomed as a sign of unity by the opposition and other quarters.

Yet Dr Fenech Adami has carried out his duties well, kept himself above politics as the function of President requires, and has also helped to widen the role of the presidency, taking it closer to the people. The idea to hold official visits in various localities during his term of office has been welcomed with open arms, and it is hoped that his successor will continue in the same footsteps.

Dr Fenech Adami was, however, not the first President to come from the same political side of the party that was in government. To varying degrees, each and every nomination, except for the first one, was a “political” appointment that had not been initially accepted as a symbol of unity.

Dr Fenech Adami’s three predecessors also came from the Nationalist camp. Dr Censu Tabone,

Dr Ugo Mifsud Bonnici and Prof. Guido de Marco had all previously been ministers in Nationalist

governments and were appointed when the PN was in power. Likewise, Dr Anton Buttigieg and Ms Agatha Barbara, together with acting presidents Albert Hyzler and Paul Xuereb, had come from the Labour camp and were appointed during a Labour term.

It was only Sir Anthony Mamo, the first President of the Republic between 1974 and 1976, who had not been a “political” appointment. It must be said however that all Presidents fulfilled their role without ever getting involved in partisan political controversies. Particular mention must be made of Dr Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, a former Nationalist minister, who served as President during the two years of a Labour administration between 1996 and 1998.

All Presidents had different styles and a different approach, but the country will be forever grateful to all of them. They might not have been initially received well by the whole population, but all served their country well.

With this historical background in mind, the nomination of George Abela as the new President of the Republic is a breakthrough in local politics. Dr Abela is a former Labour Party leader and last June contested the post of Labour leader, losing it to Joseph Muscat. He is the first President to be nominated from the “opposite” political field to that of the government.

It is, on the whole, a sign of political maturity, and credit must be given to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, who read the signs of the times and, rather than keep holding on to the tradition, and probably even reminiscent of the negative feedback he had received five years ago, decided to break away from the past.

It would have been easy for him to look within his own party and pick from there. A number of people who have served or are still serving in the PN could have been selected, and yet Dr Gonzi chose to take a bold move. Labour could not have objected to the nomination of someone who formed part of their ranks and, had they done so, would have committed a great political mistake.

Dr Abela is a man who is respected by both ends of the political spectrum, and is the ideal candidate for the role he has been asked to take over. Added to this, the fact that he has been nominated from the “other” side adds to his credibility as a person who is able to lift himself above partisan politics.

His nomination as President will hopefully be the first of many steps towards a more mature way of doing politics.