President George Vella has said he has no plans to stay on temporarily as president if an agreement on his successor is not reached.

Talks between prime minister Robert Abela and opposition leader Bernard Grech are at a standstill with less than a month to go before Vella's five-year term expires.

The constitution appears to allow for a scenario in which Vella remains in office until parliament appoints a replacement.

But Vella ruled that out when asked by Times of Malta on Friday.  

President George Vella plans to move on even if no agreement is reached on who will succeed him by the end of his term. Video: Matthew Mirabelli

“The constitution does not permit a president to serve for more than one term," he said when asked whether he would be willing to stay in the role temporarily if no agreement was reached. 

“...I am hoping that there will be an agreement, and, if not, there will be the acting president.”

Pressed to say if he would consider staying on temporarily, he said: 

"Not the plan."

Speaker as acting president

The decision by Vella, who turns 82 next month means there are now two options if the impasse continues.

Either the prime minister and the leader of the opposition agree on an acting president or speaker Anġlu Farrugia will assume the responsibilities, according to the constitution. 

He would then remain acting president alongside his role as speaker until parliament appoints a successor.

For the first time and following constitutional changes, Malta’s next president must be appointed with an approval of at least two-thirds of MPs

Previously, presidents only needed to be nominated by a simple majority after being proposed by the government. 

Vella’s five-year term, which cannot be renewed, ends on April 4th and with less than a month to go, there is still no indication of who will replace him.

According to sources, discussions between Abela and Grech stalled after the opposition said it would not support the appointment of any of Joseph Muscat’s 2017 cabinet members. 

That would see Anġlu Farrugia taking up the role and functions of the President. 

Farrugia was first elected Speaker of the House in 2013. In 2022 he was elected for an unprecedented third time.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.