Parliament will vote on the nomination of George Vella as Malta's next president on Tuesday April 2, MPs decided on Wednesday. 

The vote on Dr Vella will be taken during a special parliamentary sitting during which parliamentarians will also salute outgoing president Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca. 

Should the vote be passed, as is expected, Dr Vella will be sworn in as Malta's head of state on Thursday April 4, taking his oath of office at noon at the Presidential palace. That ceremony will follow an investiture Mass held at St John's co-Cathedral. 

A medical doctor with decades of experience in politics, Dr Vella was nominated to succeed president Coleiro Preca last week.

"I am sure Dr Vella will be another unifying figure for our people and country," Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said when announcing his nomination.

Opposition leader Adrian Delia has said that the Nationalist Party will support Dr Vella's nomination, in the national interest. 

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