Lawyers dominate candidate lists of both parties

The legal profession still dominates the Maltese political landscape to the extent that nearly a third of candidates of both major parties are lawyers or notaries.

The PN, which has been traditionally associated with the legal profession, is fielding 22 lawyers and a notary while the PL is fielding 20 lawyers and a notary. The latter include Prime Minister Robert Abela, the first Labour leader since Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici (a trade union lawyer) to hail from the legal profession. Only two of the party’s six leaders were lawyers. In contrast, all six PN leaders hailed from this profession.

Both parties are lacking in working class and vocational representation to the extent that only one candidate on each side, namely Labour MP Anthony Aguis Decelis, an electro-cardiographer, and PN candidate and midwife Josephine Xuereb hail from the vocational sector, while veteran Labour MP Joe Mizzi, a skilled technician and radio operator, remains one of the few candidates hailing from a skilled working class background. This represents a departure from the 1970s and 1980s when the Labour Party included a contingent of working class MPs.

A MaltaToday analysis based on the occupational status of candidates reveals a striking similarity in the class composition of both parties, with most candidates hailing from the legal, financial, management and medical professions.

But while the PN has a stronger contingent of candidates hailing from the engineering profession, the PL has a stronger contingent of economists, financial practitioners and accountants as well as a larger number of business owners. The latter include choreographer and dance company owner Felix Busuttil and TCTC owner Ray Abela, who was one of the few candidates to support a yacht marina in Marsascala.

The PN’s contingent of businessmen includes two veteran politicians: shop-owner Edwin Vassallo and hotelier Robert Arrigo, as well as 6PM owner Ivan Bartolo, who had already contested in 2017.

This may reflect the Labour party’s association with strong economic growth and pro-business policies in the past years. Moreover Abela’s two predecessors, Joseph Muscat and Alfred Sant, were both economists; while a number of Labour ministers, such as Silvio Schembri and Aaron Farrugia, are also economists by profession

On the other hand, the candidature of four engineers with the PN represent an opportunity for the party to make inroads in the scientific community. Engineer Ryan Callus already represents the party in parliament. Candidates aspiring for parliament include electric engineer Mark Anthony Sammut, biomedical engineer Rebekah Cilia, and airline engineer John Baptist Camilleri.

But Labour has also made inroads in the academic community, fielding fishing expert and anthropologist Alicia Borg Said, Damian Spiteri, a lecturer in social work, and Katya Degiovanni, a senior lecturer who also chairs the Psychology Profession Board.

Despite the planning emergency facing the country, only four architects – two on each side – and an urban planner (housing minister Roderick Galdes) will be contesting the election with the major parties, while Carmel Cacopardo is contesting with the greens.