We are less than three months away from what should be the appointment of a new President, but there are no indications that the two sides of the House have come to terms about who will be succeeding George Vella.

Other than three names that were put forward by the Opposition last year, which did not bring any reaction from the government, we do not know whether any talks or exchanges have been made.

The appointment of the new President will be different from all previous nominations.

All 10 Heads of State appointed since Malta became a republic 50 years ago needed just the approval of the majority of the Members of Parliament. There were cases when the opposition also voted in favour of the nomination, but this was not obligatory in the overall scheme of things. A simple majority was enough for the appointment to go through.

But it will not be the same this time. The changes that were made in 2020 have established that the President is to be appointed by not less than two-thirds of the members of the House. It is also established that if no such agreement is made, the incumbent stays on until the two sides come to terms. Of course, Vella may not want to continue in his role after his five-year term expires, and from his more recent public speeches it is apparent that he will move out of San Anton on 4 April.

“As you know, this is my last such message, as this Presidency is coming to an end,” he said on 24 December when he delivered his Christmas message. If Vella does go, an Acting President will take on his position.

The 2020 changes are a strong indication that the next President will be someone who does not have a political past. The appointment of University Pro-Rector Frank Bezzina as Acting President two years ago – and he has since always taken over from the President each time the latter went abroad – is also indicative of the way forward.

Still, there are arguments that, given that there are cases when the President must intervene in times of political duress, it would be better that he or she is someone who has a political background.

President Vella himself had to deal with two major political crises in his years as President – the resignation of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and all that this brought with it, and the internal conflicts in the Nationalist Party which eventually brought down Adrian Delia and the election of Bernard Grech in his stead.

These were moments which required political acumen on the part of the President who, while retaining his impartial role, had to use all his experience when faced with these two difficult moments which caused so much instability.

The recent impasse we had when the government and the opposition did not agree on who should become Standards Commissioner does not bode well with regard to the name they will have to agree upon for the role of President. The law had been quickly changed for the stalemate to be resolved. But, this time, the government will not have the same option.

And time is running out.