The Nationalist Party completed its casual election process on Tuesday morning, with seven candidates securing seats in Parliament, while six additional women were elected on the PN ticket through the gender corrective mechanism.
The casual elections were held to fill seats vacated by Nationalist Party candidates who were elected from two districts in the recent general election and were therefore required to relinquish one of their seats.
The seven successful candidates were Andrew Agius, Stanley Zammit, Graziella Attard Previ, Ian Vassallo, George Vital Zammit, John Baptiste Camilleri and Graham Bencini, all of whom will now represent the PN in Malta’s next legislature.
Amongst the casualties in these casual elections was Charles Azzopardi, the popular MP who was once Labour mayor of Rabat as well as the much touted ‘star candidate’, Ray Grech who failed on the 7th and 3rd district respectively.
The results also paved the way for the activation of the gender corrective mechanism, which is designed to improve gender balance in Parliament when female representation elected through the normal electoral process falls below established thresholds.
Under the mechanism, six women from each of Malta’s two main political parties were elected to Parliament, adding a total of 12 MPs to the House of Representatives.
The six PN candidates elected through the gender corrective mechanism are Bernice Bonello, Julie Zahra, Norma Camilleri, Anabelle Cilia, Marilena Gauci and Miriana Calleja Testaferrata De Noto.
The inclusion of these candidates further strengthens female representation within the Nationalist parliamentary group and contributes to a more balanced composition of Parliament.
The outcome follows Friday’s Labour Party casual elections, where eight candidates were elected, including four women. Despite expectations that the stronger showing by female candidates in the casual elections could potentially reduce the need for the gender corrective mechanism, the constitutional provisions ultimately resulted in the allocation of the full six additional seats per party.
With both the casual elections and gender corrective mechanism now concluded, Parliament’s composition for the new legislature has effectively been finalised, with both major parties strengthening their representation ahead of the opening of the new parliamentary term. Parliament will open on Saturday 20th June, exactly three weeks after the May 30th General Election.
Photo: timesofmalta.com
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