Soundings on new President

Former Tourism Minister, Michael Refalo, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Anton Tabone, are being mentioned as two likely candidates for the post of President, which will become vacant in the coming months.

President Guido de Marco's term will end in April, ironically a couple of weeks before Malta joins the European Union.

Sources said that another name being mentioned in political circles for the post of President is that of Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami: "Even if he publicly excludes this possibility, the option is still there. In reality Dr Fenech Adami has no option but to exclude that possibility in public.

"If Dr Fenech Adami is interested in the job, he will get it. And there is also the possibility of appointing an acting president, until Dr Fenech Adami makes up his mind on when to step down as prime minister."

In a recent interview with The Times, Dr Fenech Adami said he was not interested in becoming head of state. He had also said he will step down as prime minister in this legislature.

Asked whether it was about time that a president who is not a former Nationalist minister be appointed - Dr Censu Tabone, Dr Ugo Mifsud Bonnici and Professor de Marco were Nationalist politicians - Dr Fenech Adami had said his government had tried to elect a "non-partisan" president in the past, but was not successful.

The sources said that in a scenario where Dr Fenech Adami is not interested in the job, or will decide not to leave his office soon: "Dr Refalo and Mr Tabone are two very likely candidates. Obviously there are other people who fit the job, even outside politics. But, Dr Refalo and Mr Tabone stand a good chance of getting the presidency."

Dr Refalo, who will be 68 in February, has extensive experience in Parliament having been elected in every consecutive election since 1971. He only failed to make it to Parliament last April.

His portfolio as minister included culture, justice and tourism.

In his younger days, Dr Refalo was also involved in journalism and he spent eight years as editor of a Sunday newspaper.

Mr Tabone, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, would be the third Gozitan President after Dr Anton Buttigieg and Dr Censu Tabone.

Mr Tabone, who was 67 yesterday, has successfully contested all the elections on behalf of the Nationalist Party since 1966 with the exception of 1998.

This year, he was re-elected as MP and was re-appointed Speaker, although people close to him say he was expecting to be re-appointed Minister for Gozo, a position he held for two whole legislatures. Although Mr Tabone was elected Speaker, he retained his seat as MP.