'I asked voters for number 3s and it got me elected'

Clint Azzopardi Flores announced his candidacy a week into the 33-day general election campaign, meaning he had roughly three weeks to persuade voters to choose his name on the ballot.

Despite the short campaign, Azzopardi Flores got elected following casual elections in the second district.

“I didn’t campaign to get elected immediately. If you believe you can get elected in 21 days in the regular election, you are being very presumptuous... It would have taken a miracle to get elected immediately. I campaigned for the casual election,” he said, explaining the electoral stages he opted for.

Under Malta’s voting system, candidates can run in a maximum of two districts. Should they succeed in both, they have to give up a seat in one district, making a new seat vacant, waiting to be filled, usually by casual election.

The prime minister, Robert Abela, and the finance minister, Clyde Caruana, were both elected in two districts. Abela vacated his seat, leaving space for Azzopardi Flores, who contested the casual election with seven others.

The single transferable vote system in place means that, should an elected candidate cede a seat, the votes that got the candidate elected are recounted to consider the second preferences of the voters who elected them.

'The threes and fours are game changers'

Azzopardi Flores said he asked voters for their third preference in order to benefit from the casual election.

“Obviously, the first preference would go to Robert Abela and the second preference to their preferred candidate, but the threes and fours, those are game changers when you consider a casual election,” he said. “So I asked for the threes of minister Clyde Caruana, minister Byron Caruana and, really, everyone’s three,” he went on.

People, he observed, are usually more willing to give their third or fourth preference to a new candidate rather than their first or second preference.

But why did he decide to run so late in the game?

The economist said he was first approached by the party and the prime minister to contest in December. “I wasn’t convinced; my life had settled down. But when the election came, and you feel that enthusiasm, especially if you were brought up in the party, you would want to help and participate,” he admitted.

Azzopardi Flores only announced his decision to contest on day 7 of the electoral campaign during an evening activity in Santa Venera. He said he had decided only a few days before, during the Labour Party’s first mass rally of the campaign in Żejtun.

'I shied away from foreign policy on Iran and Israel'

Despite the short campaign, Azzopardi Flores pointed out that he had been in the public eye for four years, which included an unsuccessful run for the European Parliament in the summer of 2024.

“Even after the EP election, I remained visible, writing and helping people whenever their concerns were merited. That is a big reason why I managed to get elected,” he said.

During his EP campaign run, Azzopardi Flores, a former diplomat, spent much of his time speaking about foreign policy, particularly criticising the EU and European Parliament president Roberta Metsola for her Russia stance, especially when compared to their stance on Israel.

Despite Azzopardi Flores often making statements that went beyond the government’s position on the matter, the new MP said the party never asked him to stop speaking on the matter.

“This time, I shied away from foreign policy both on Iran and Israel. I thought that, in the current context, I wanted to transition from having a European and international mindset to a national one,” he remarked.

As to what he wanted to focus on as a government backbencher, Azzopardi Flores said he wanted to use his expertise in ESG (environmental, social and governance) and focus on sustainability.