PN’s former financial controller Antoine Borg is elected MP

Former PN financial controller Antoine Borg was today elected to parliament after gaining 2,253 votes in the casual election held to fill the seat vacated by former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

Borg was elected in the sixth count after leading the race for most counts. Although Borg lagged behind his closest rival, former MP Peter Micallef, in the fifth count, Borg banked on his alphabetical advantage and took the seat. 

Speaking to MaltaToday at the counting hall in Naxxar, Borg expressed his surprise at being elected, adding that he was "proud" of his election.

Pointing out that together with Nationalist MP Ryan Callus he was one of the youngest MPs, Borg said: "I am looking forward to work in Parliament."

Asked whether he shouldered any responsibility for the PN's financial woes, Borg answered in the negative and said: 'there is no link whatsoever. I always gave my all in the job."

He added that could not reveal whether he knew of the party's precarious financial state before of after the election, given that such information was confidential.

Seven candidates, four of them former MPs, were vying for Lawrence Gonzi's vacant seat on the seventh district this morning. The counting process started slightly before 9am.

Candidate Rudolph Grima was the first to be eliminated with 186 votes, followed by David Vassallo (491 votes), former MPs Philip Mifsud with 661 votes and Edwin Vassallo with 685 votes.

Former MP and parliamentary secretary Tony Abela was the last candidate to be eliminated after garnering 1,136 votes.

In the sixth count, Borg garnered 2,253 votes, while Peter Micallef bowed out with 1,529 votes.

Earlier

Although the atmosphere was typically staid with candidates patiently watching the tedious counting process, at one point tension escalated between a counting agent representing former MP Peter Micallef, and former MP Philip Mifsud.

Micallef's agent claimed several ballot papers had been inadvertently placed in Mifsud's ballot box. A representative from the Electoral Commission later confirmed the error.

At this point, Micallef's agent demanded a recount of the votes, but Mifsud objected to this request.

Minutes later, Mifsud's votes started being removed from his box, to which the former MP swiftly moved to halt the process, saying that he would demand a recount from the Commission for the entire casual election.

Mifsud asked that a sorting of the votes be carried out before the recount of the contested ballot sheets.