Various names have been put forward as potential candidates for the post of Leader of the Malta Labour Party and consequently of the Opposition. Without going into the merits or demerits of these personalities, I would like to submit the following observations on an important aspect which seems to have been generally neglected.

The office of Leader of the Opposition is contemplated under Article 90 of the Constitution. The said article clearly states that the President must appoint as Leader of the Opposition that member of the House of Representatives who would also hold the post of leader of that political party which, apart from the party in government, would have the strongest parliamentary representation.

Thus, it is clear that the Leader of the Opposition must of necessity be at the same time both a parliamentarian and leader of a political party.

It is public knowledge that persons who did not stand for election at the last general elections are being mentioned as ideal for the post of leader of the Malta Labour Party.

Though the persons being mentioned clearly have the necessary political attributes, the nomination and possible election of one of them to the post of leader of the MLP could cause a serious constitutional problem.

The Constitution does not contemplate the eventuality of nominating as Leader of the Opposition a parliamentarian who is not the leader of the party. It follows, therefore, that for a party leader who is not a sitting MP to assume the role of Leader of the Opposition, he must be co-opted to Parliament.

In order for such a politician to be co-opted to Parliament, a sitting MP would have to give up his seat. The problem here is that this particular parliamentarian must be one who would have been elected in a casual election, as was the case when former Prime Minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici was co-opted to Parliament. The reason for this is that if another MP, elected at the general election, were to renounce his seat in Parliament, automatically and according to law another casual election would follow.

In view of the above I dare say that, before any names are put forward, prospective candidates who are not sitting MPs would have to offer some sort of guarantee that, once elected to the post of leader of the MLP, there would be a parliamentarian, elected through a casual election, willing to give up his post. This is essential in order to avoid undue political uncertainty and constitutional problems.