Each election of a President seems to have become something quite different from the preceding one.

In 2008, Lawrence Gonzi lost no time in appointing George Abela, from the Opposition camp, as President.

This time, at least according to consistent press reports, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has still not decided who to nominate.

At first, many thought the new President would be veteran Labour deputy leader George Vella.

Then, quite recently, it was said that Labour’s grassroots had erupted in anger at Dr Vella’s coming nomination and clamoured for someone else.

Then it was said that this ‘someone else’ would be Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca. She herself was said not to be so keen on the idea and voters in her home town Qormi collected signatures asking the Prime Minister to spare them their minister.

That’s as far as the court rumours go. Maybe there is no truth in any of this. Or maybe Dr Muscat still has the name of his real candidate up his sleeve. Whatever the truth, the move has to be made in the coming weeks.

Given that the naming of the President is one of the Prime Minister’s prerogatives, it would be unfair and presumptuous to dare suggest solutions.

One may, however, be permitted to make some reflections.

Let us start with what we know.

It is clear now that Dr Gonzi’s ruse to appoint George Abela was a monumental mistake. With his choice, Dr Gonzi alienated an entire party, his own, and did not gain anything in return from Labour. Nor did he succeed in splitting Labour, if that was his aim.

If the press reports are correct, there has been no such thought in Dr Muscat’s head. He does not seem to think he should go for a PN politician and the names that have been mentioned are all of PL politicians. Is that him being partisan or him being realistic? Given that the George Abela model has not worked, and also given Labour’s grassroots feelings, there seems to be no question that the next President should be a Labour politician.

So far, so clear. But judging from the media reports, it would also seem that Labour, while appearing monolithic and united in pre-election times, is in fact riven by internecine feuds, rivalries and battles which are now coming out in the wash.

All this is made worse by the calculations of people who may profit from the coming reshuffle and who are very clearly positioning themselves as near to a ladder and far away as possible from a snake in this big Snakes and Ladders game.

It is difficult, this side of the decision, to say which could be the criteria in Dr Muscat’s mind. It should be clear that personal likes and/or dislikes play little part in such decisions. Nor does Dr Muscat seem to be a person who can be swayed by the fact that a particular person really, but really, would like the post.

Both Dr Vella and Dr Coleiro Preca have their good points and their bad ones as ministers.

Dr Vella is an elderly statesman with a lot of experience in the diplomatic field but we do not agree with some of his choices when appointing ambassadors.

Dr Coleiro Preca has thrown herself into the war against want, plastering her office with posters against poverty and being seriously concerned about the number of people asking for a government housing unit when she took office.

We however say it is very true that there are needy people but social assistance fraud is also sky-high and one should not believe all the sob stories one hears as many times people seem to be able to survive. On the contrary, such talk about more and more social assistance can help increase the dependency of many people on government hand-outs.

If these two are the only choices Dr Muscat has in his mind, they both come from deep Labour backgrounds and command respect among Labour supporters and, by extension, the country at large seeing there is now a stable and strong Labour government.

Considering the vacuum into which Dr George Abela was thrust, the choice of any Labour personality will be how things should be, the President as an expression of the government in office, of the clear majority of the people.