This year Dr George Abela’s Presidency comes to its natural end and the House of Representatives will have to elect by resolution a new President. When all is said Dr Abela’s presidency was a successful one in all respects bar a couple of faux pas which could have been easily avoided.

Some of these were not of the President’s own making such as the speech on the opening of parliament which was unmistakably the work of a blinkered and foolish party enthusiast. On the plus side the drive to help others and his work on the reform of the Constitution stand out.

Public speculation has been gearing up on who could be the next President. Some have been keener than others in suggesting names. The Nationalist Party favours someone from its side. On Labour’s side, Dr Alfred Sant has waded into the polemic by suggesting that it is the Prime Minister’s prerogative to choose him and that’s that. Such a view of course ignores the fact that it is the House of Representatives that elects the new president and not the Prime Minister on his own.

I am suggesting an alternative choice which was proposed some years back. Why not go for a candidate who is not explicitly linked to one political party or another. This does not mean that the individual chosen cannot have a political point of view. This is of course impossible. However choosing somebody from outside the immediate political sphere could have a number of advantages especially at this point in time.

There has been a lot of reference to history and how our past presidents have been elected and frankly I think this country could do without blinkered visions. If we should refer to the past at all, we should do so only to emulate the good things that have been achieved.

It is to the future that we should look with enthusiasm.

In 2009 we saw a positive paradigm shift in Maltese politics when for the first time in the history of the Republic, the Nationalist Government and the Labour Opposition jointly proposed and elected Dr George Abela from the Labour side as the President of Malta.

The resolution approved by the House of Representatives was proposed by the Prime Minister on 1 April 2009 and seconded by the Leader of the Opposition, today’s Prime Minister.

It was approved unanimously by all MPs present. Only five MPs did not participate in the vote. According to the minutes of the House, these were Mr Mario Galea, Mr Silvio Parnis, Dr Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Dr Alfred Sant. Dr George Vella was excused since he was abroad on parliamentary business.

The people welcomed this “presidency-with-a-difference” because it was a bold political move and a sign of cross-party consensus. Not all Nationalist party supporters approved it – nor did all Laborites for that matter.  But in the end most fell behind the new President. It was a sign of political maturity worthy of emulation.

This was a moment when the people of Malta truly felt “Malta taghnalkoll”.

So what shall we do now?  Why not go for another first in Maltese politics?

So far almost all of our presidents have come from the political corral. Nothing wrong with that by any means. But why should we not be a bit more creative by looking beyond the world of politics for the next President amongst the bigger pool of people who have never participated directly in politics and who have contributed significantly to the general good of this country. There of course already exists a shining example of this – Sir Anthony Mamo, Malta’s first President. The circumstances through which he became President were very particular however there is no doubt that he was an outstanding success.

Such a move will certainly be a courageous and innovative game changer. I’m fully aware that a number of people will scoff at this suggestion, however when it comes to the Institutions and especially the highest one of them which is the Presidency, I think it’s about time that we sought the best outcome – the one which I think most people want. We must show that we have evolved politically and that we have become more mature.

In a world which is being daily created and shaped by forces that are out of the domain of politics is it not time we tried to think and act outside the old box?