The Malta Labour Party dismissed a government proposal to appoint George Abela as President, arguing he was "too young and would not fit into the father figure required by the position," The Times has learnt.
The name of Dr Abela, a former MLP deputy leader, was brought up in a meeting Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had with MLP deputy leader Charles Mangion, barely two days after taking office, while Dr Sant was in Brussels.
Contacted yesterday and asked about the matter, Dr Sant initially said one should speak to Dr Gonzi about the matter.
He then noted he had not been the one who was consulted. The consultation did not take place with him. Asked whether Dr Mangion informed him about the possibility of nominating Dr Abela for President, Dr Sant said:
"Dr Mangion kept me posted about the developments. Dr Abela's name was mentioned but the Cabinet recommended Dr Fenech Adami and the formal proposal was to appoint him as President," Dr Sant said.
Speaking in parliament on Monday, Dr Gonzi said that in his consultations with Dr Mangion he had indicated "yet another potential candidate, even though the Cabinet had already decided on its preference".
Dr Mangion had interjected, saying the person "had been so fleetingly mentioned that nobody had really considered it".
But Dr Gonzi yesterday said in an interview that although he was not constitutionally bound to consult the opposition, he had done so and that consultations started before he was sworn in as Prime Minister.
"I sounded out the opposition on one other name, a person who had not been mentioned until then. The reaction I got was that, because of his relatively young age, he would not fit into the father figure required by the position," Dr Gonzi said.
Dr Abela had resigned from deputy leader shortly before the election in 1998 after he had declared at a party general conference that if the party decided to go for an election so early, he "would stop there".
Dr Abela had also resigned as then Prime Minister Alfred Sant's advisor earlier that year.