Ugo Mifsud Bonnici made a most insightful remark in a publication he wrote entitled The Manual for the President of the Republic: "The role requires prestige, which is best maintained through silence and measured language in the right circumstances. It has great potential within a very restricted space."

He should know. Dr Mifsud Bonnici occupied the post during one of the most delicate periods in Malta's contemporary history. He was faced with an unprecedented political crisis and received praise for his handling of it from both sides of the political divide - a rare event in Malta.

If George Abela has not read the manual, he would do well to leaf through it. Judging by two incidents so far this year there is certainly no evidence he has heeded the wise written counsel of one of his predecessors.

When, at the turn of the year, The Times reported comments made by the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations, Dr Abela turned on the newspaper in an open attack through the Department of Information. The statement read: "One cannot but query the motivation, the prominence and the timing of the story that is totally unfounded in its allegations."

At the time we wrote in a leader entitled 'Shooting the messenger' stating that "this kind of language was more becoming of a politician in the midst of a spat than of personnel who are guardians of the country's most distinguished office". Yet it seems we were unheeded too.

After allegations of mismanagement within the Office of the President recently surfaced in another newspaper, Dr Abela felt the need to hurriedly call a press conference.

This was a strange move, particularly because he sought not to deal with the issues raised but rather to announce that the government was about to launch an inquiry into whether the President's recently dismissed right-hand man was responsible for leaking confidential documents to the media in order to "create a story".

He went further, publicly stating that he had "lost faith" in his former secretary. This comment was neither silent, nor measured, nor uttered in the right circumstances by the President - who should be doing his utmost to avoid controversy of this nature in order to serve his role as a symbol of unity in the country.

While there is no doubt that individuals can each place their own stamp on the Presidency - it is clear, for example, that Eddie Fenech Adami and Guido de Marco approached the role differently - the purpose must, as it did with the two men just mentioned, remain the same: and that is at all times to uphold the prestige of the post.

This means ensuring as much as possible that the Office of the President is whiter than white; that a certain aloofness - in the best possible sense of the word - or status is retained, at the expense of popularity if need be; and, as difficult as it sounds, at times suffering in silence in the face of criticism or at least responding to it in the right way and through the right channels.

For some reason, Dr Abela is not managing to do some of these things as well as he should.

It could be because, unlike his predecessors, he has not surrounded himself with personnel or advisers who are seasoned in this field. It could be because he is not as accustomed to public office. Whatever the case, he must seek to put this right.