The story carried last Sunday in this newspaper in which the potential candidates for the post of Malta’s 9th President led to some serious discussion on the issue, particularly in the Labour Party camp since, for the first time in more than three decades, it is up to a Labour government to nominate the next Head of State.

Among the names mentioned last week were those of ministers Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and Manwel Mallia. But both are still at the peak of their career, younger in age and still with many years to give within the government ranks.

Following our story last Sunday, sources close to Dr Mallia observed how he had emerged strongly at the last election, and had been elected on two districts in his first attempt at politics, and the Labour Party would not want to lose the many votes he earned in traditionally Nationalist districts last March.

The same goes for Dr Coleiro Preca, who is still powerful on the Qormi district and, here again, it might be too early for Labour to pull her out of the political arena.

Such observations would appear to effectively rule them out, leaving Dr Vella in the running with two other candidates. The first was mentioned last week, and it’s former Speaker Miriam Spiteri Debono. A second potential candidate could be Maria Camilleri, a former Labour MP and a candidate for the MEP elections on the Labour ticket in 2009. Neither of these women was offered a government position following the last general election.

The last President to be appointed by a Labour government was Agatha Barbara in 1982, at a time when Dom Mintoff was Prime Minister. The two Labour leaders who replaced Mr Mintoff never got the chance to nominate one.

The only one who came close was Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, who as Prime Minister had nominated Paul Xuereb – but only as Acting President, a position he held for more than two years between 1987 and 1989 until he was replaced by Censu Tabone.

A Prime Minister for 22 months, Dr Alfred Sant never got the chance to nominate a President, as his tenure was right in the middle of the five-year term of Ugo Mifsud Bonnici as President. Dr Mifsud Bonnici, in fact, is the only President so far in history to have been Head of State in two elections, those of 1996 and 1998.

Since Dr Tabone’s nomination in 1989, it was always the PN who had the onus of nominating a President. After Dr Tabone and Dr Mifsud Bonnici, it was first Dr Guido de Marco and then Dr Eddie Fenech Adami who held the post, all from a Nationalist background, until in 2009 then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi became the first to propose a President from the opposing political party – George Abela, who had been Labour’s deputy leader for party affairs during the Alfred Sant PL leadership.

And so, after more than 30 years and five presidents nominated by the Nationalist Party, it is Labour’s turn to appoint a Head of State.

The story published last week originated when Dr Busuttil said on national TV that after Dr Gonzi chose a President coming from the Labour camp, Dr Muscat should reciprocate by nominating a President from the PN political side. Taking the hint, we wrote about possible contenders for the post from the PN end, and we mentioned Dr Gonzi and former PN ministers Giovanna Debono and Dolores Cristina – but we said that they were potential candidates only if Dr Muscat were to consider the option, which would certainly displease the Labour grassroots.

In fact, the reaction from the Labour grassroots after Dr Busuttil’s statement was negative, and bar any last minute change of mind, the race for the next President is therefore restricted to candidates from the Labour camp.

The most natural choice is that of Foreign Minister George Vella, considered to be the favourite since he fits the bill perfectly as a Labour choice. At 71 (75 at the next election), he is unlikely to face the electorate again as a candidate. He is among the veterans of the parliamentary group – only Joe Debono Grech and Karmenu Vella were elected to Parliament before him. He served as deputy leader of the party during the Alfred Sant leadership years. For many, the presidency would seem to be a fitting end to his political career.

President George Abela’s term expires on 4 April.