The familiar and unexpected local council candidates announced so far

As the second day allocated for the receipt of candidates for local council elections came to an end on Friday, a few noteworthy names have cropped up among the election hopefuls. 

Among the candidates with celebrity-like status is ex-footballer Justin Haber, who announced his candidature on Facebook. Apart from being known for his football career where he wore the national jersey as Malta’s goalkeeper, Haber had also dabbled in the restaurant business.

In 2020, his restaurant, Haber 16 featured on Netflix’s ‘Restaurant on the Edge’, a series which tries to revive failing restaurants. The restaurant landed Haber in court last year, as he had been ordered to hand over funds to a company which held a stake in the venture. 

Haber will run for the local council election in Floriana as a Labour candidate. 

Coincidentally, another former national goalkeeper will be contesting the local council election, as Reggie Cini has placed his name on Valletta’s ballot. 

In 2022, Cini made headlines as he recovered after facing critical respiratory problems. In fact, Cini, whose stance against the Covid-19 vaccine was made clear, bounced back after he was given a 5% chance of survival. 

Cini will contest the election as an independent candidate. 

Valletta’s ballot will also feature Billy Joe Mc Bee, who regularly makes his voice heard when protesting in favour of Valletta’s residents. Mc Bee’s group, ‘Residenti Beltin’ has recently organised a protest along with residents from a number of localities who are irked with widespread public encroachment.

Mc Bee will contest in the name of Residenti Beltin. 

Meanwhile in Pietà, ADPD candidate Janet Zahra Walker announced her intention to put her name on the ballot. Zahra Walker had been in the news as she and her family had been victims of a wall collapse in their building due to ongoing construction works next to the building. 

Zahra Walker and her family had to live elsewhere for about three years, and they had claimed some €14,000 in compensation following the incident. 

Zahra Walker is not the only ADPD candidate contesting the local elections, as the party had announced that its candidates will be contesting the local elections in Attard, Balzan, Birkirkara, Birżebbuġa, Marsaskala, and St Paul’s Bay.

Making a comeback in politics is ex-PL MP Anthony Agius Decelis, who has put forward his name as a Mosta PL candidate. 

Agius Decelis was first elected as an MP back in 2008, but failed to get re-elected in the previous general election. During his time as an MP, he was appointed parliamentary secretary for the elderly and disabled in 2017, and was then appointed non-executive chair of the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation after he was left out of Robert Abela’s first cabinet. 

Other notable mentions include Iris Vella, Giuseppe Aquilina, and Paul Salomone, who are representing the far-right Partit Popolari in Ħaż-Żebbuġ, Ħamrun and Mellieħa respectively. 

Salomone is the party’s leader, as he had previously been involved as an activist in Alleanza Nazzjonali Repubblikana, a right-wing formation that organised an anti-immigration demonstration in 2006. In 2019, a year before Partit Popolari was founded, he was an active member of Imperium Europa.