His excellent citizen

What public life the present head of state will have after his term expires is not a matter that will or should capture a huge deal of attention. Once, come April, he is no longer President, citizen Guido de Marco is perfectly entitled, if he so wishes, to contest the European Parliament election, due in June. If he intends to do that, as he has not ruled out that he shall, now that the rumour mill has channelled the prospect into political debate, there is no reason in terms of any unwritten rule of democracy for him to resign.

If he were to stand as an independent candidate, the three political parties might say that the presidential aura that lingered on him would work to their disadvantage. Possibly. It would by no means guarantee him one of the five Euro seats reserved for our republic. And anyone who voted for him as an independent but went on to mark preferences according to our single transferable vote system would, as likely as not, give them to the party of their normal choice anyway.

If he stood as a Nationalist, it is hardly conceivable that he would attract potential Labour and Alternattiva voters because he had been president up to recently. Such voters would see him as a Nationalist figure, back to the old routine, no more and no less. Nor would this scenario come about without much turbulence back of the PN stage. The party secretary, probed by the media, said with heavy import that Dr de Marco had not chased the party - nor had the party chased him.

Not so far, and - I venture to opine - not later on, either. If he himself or the PN saw a new life for citizen de Marco it would more likely be as Commissioner, rather than a drop in the ocean of members of the European Parliament. Not even that scenario is likely. As with the possibility of Guido de Marco attempting to stand for an MEP slot, various Nationalist knives would be drawn to resist the move. Once his query had elicited a non-committal reply from the President's palace, the Opposition leader has succeeded in letting the cat among the pigeons.

It will now be part of the network of the PN, including that which never quite accepted Guido de Marco as its darling, that will be working angrily behind the scenes and inspiring reactions up front.

All that would still leave President de Marco with his right to stay in office to the last day, letting his actions demonstrate his commitment to be at all his presidential times above politics. It would also leave citizen de Marco free to exercise his democratic rights as it pleases him from April on. It is a personal decision. On two counts, I hope it will not lead him to submit himself to any other electoral contest whether in June or, as in the case of former Portuguese president Mario Soares, years later.

On a personal level, to choose to move from the highest office in the land back into the electoral arena would, I feel, be a sad decline. For a man of energy and stature like Guido de Marco, there should be enough to keep him occupied when he is no longer president, both in the interest of Malta as well as outside it. In terms of the office of president, while there is nothing to bar a former holder from seeking new - or returning to old - pastures there is an inherent dignity in having been head of state that should be carried forward and maintained.

I am among those who dislike the sight of former presidents (originating from either side) attending the general conferences of his or her party. Becoming president does not mean that one jettisons one's political beliefs. It does mean, and so have all our presidents acted, rising above partisan politics. Though this is not a legal requirement I feel that it should also lead to the ethic that, once out of office, one stays out of politics, even in the sense of not participating through silent presence at party meetings.

It may turn out that there is nothing to the MEP-related rumours regarding what Guido de Marco will determine to do once he is no longer president. Acrimony between now and then is quite unnecessary, a waste of time and attention. If there is to be meaningful debate it should be on the desirability of the new president being someone who is not and has not been a politician. We have been fortunate in our choice of presidents. We would add to that fortune if we showed that presidential timber is not restricted to the political forest. It is not necessary to take part in politics to be an excellent citizen, as Sir Anthony Mamo demonstrated.