Notary Tony Abela, former PN parliamentary secretary, dies at 66

Former Nationalist Party MP and Rabat notary Tony Abela has passed away at the age of 66. 

Abela, the son of former PN MP Sammy Abela, was born on 14 January 1956 and studied at St Aloysius College and Malta University.

He was a Member of SDM and KSU and PN treasurer between 1996 and 1999. He first contested a general election in 1981 and five years later was elected for the first time to parliament.

Abela was re-elected in 1996, 1998, and 2003. Between 2003 and 2008 Abela was parliamentary secretary for national defence within the Office of the Prime Minister.

Although he did not run in the most recent general election, he was elected to parliament in a 2015 casual election.

Abela was known as a major collector of funds for the PN.

Tributes have poured in for Abela including from President George Vella who expressed condolences to his family.

PN leader Bernard Grech described the notary as "a loyal person, who gave a lot to the districts he contested, to the country and to the Nationalist Party."

In her facebook post, Roberta Metsola thanked Tony Abela for his work, towards the country but especially towards the people of Rabat, Żebbuġ, Mġarr and Dingli.

Former PN leaders Simon Busutill and Adrian Delia also offered their condolences with Busutill praising Abela as "a pillar of the party in Rabat for many years."

Rabat Ajax, the locality football team, also paid tribute to the man who served as club president for a while during the 1980s and under whose helm the team won Malta's major honours.