Will Chris Said contest next election? MP mum on political future

Mystery surrounds claims that veteran Gozo Nationalist MP Chris Said will not contest the next general election, with the MP refusing to confirm or deny the media reports.

On Saturday, The Malta Independent reported that Said announced he will not run in the next election, while addressing a PN activitity at the PN club in Sannat.

But in today’s edition of GozoToday, the PN MP refused to confirm his intentions.

“I do not know why The Independent reported what it did,” he said. “When I make a decision on my future, I will make it public myself.”

Said said that the next election was still two years away and he was focusing on continuing his work within the party and his constituency.

Said was elected to parliament in 2008 and he went on to serve as parliamentary secretary and later as justice minister.

He recently said that the Ministry for Gozo should be retained but proposed an ad-hoc council for Gozo with executive powers which would function as the principal decision-maker of the island.

He made it clear that this power-sharing proposal was strictly his, and not the PN’s.

Political career

Chris Said, a lawyer by profession, was born on 10 July in 1970 in Nadur, Gozo. He was a mayor of his home town for several years. His brothers Charles and Edward also occupied the position.

Said was first elected to parliament in 2008 and was appointed parliamentary secretary for public dialogue and information in the Office of the Prime Minister by Lawrence Gonzi.

In Spectember 2010, he resigned his post following accusations of perjury. A month later, his name was cleared of all accusations

In January 2012, following the resignation of Carm Mifsud Bonnici from minister, Said was appointed justice and family minister.

After the PN lost the 2013 elections, Said was elected party secretary general. He did not contest the post again in 2015 at the behest of party leader Simon Busttil in order to focus on Gozo for the upcoming election.

After the party’s defeat in the 2017 general election, Said contested the party leadership election and ended in second place behind Adrian Delia. The latter selected Said to shadow the Gozo and constitutional reforms portfolios.

Said was elected again on the Gozo district in the 2022 general election but his performance was eclipsed by newcomer Alex Borg, who received the second highest first count votes after Labour’s Clint Camilleri.