Three candidates vying for vacant Parliamentary seat

Three candidates have so far submitted their nominations for the casual election to fill in the seat vacated by former health minister Joe Cassar, who resigned following MaltaToday’s revelations about his links with businessman Joe Gaffarena.  

Today, former Rabat mayor Rudolph Grima and Dingli local councillor David Vassallo were the latest PN candidates to submit their names, after former PN junior minister Tony Abela applied yesterday.

Nominations close on Saturday 14 November while the counting of votes will take place on Monday, 16 November at 9am.

Abela was the last candidate to be eliminated in the 2013 casual election and together with former MP Peter Micallef – who has yet to submit his nomination - is favourite to fill in the seat vacated on the district which includes Rabat, Zebbug and Dingli. 

In the unpredictable casual elections, candidates must achieve 50% of the quota established in the general election. The quota of the seventh district in 2008 was 4,075, meaning that in order to get elected a candidate must garner 2,038 votes to snatch the seat. 

In the unlikely eventuality that nobody reaches the quota or nobody submits a nomination, the PN would co-opt somebody to fill in Cassar’s seat. The last MP to be co-opted was Prime Minister Joseph Muscat who took up the seat voluntarily vacated by Joseph Cuschieri in 2008.

Abela was considered as the Lawrence Gonzi government’s PR nightmare when he served as parliamentary secretary in charge of defence between 2003 and 2008.

Abela had also submitted his nomination for the casual election held to fill in Gonzi’s seat in 2013 after the former Prime Minister resigned in the wake of the calamitous electoral defeat. 

However, Gonzi’s seat was taken by the PN former financial controller, Antoine Borg, who beat off the competition of six other candidates despite only getting 197 first count votes in the election itself. 

Current Mosta mayor and former MP Edwin Vassallo is also eligible to contest but has already ruled himself out while former MP Philip Mifsud has not yet submitted his nomination.