Co-option ruled out for Dalli seat

Peter Micallef appears to be favourite to take John Dalli's parliamentary seat after confirming yesterday he will contest the casual election.

Dr Micallef's decision to contest will effectively rule out speculation that the Nationalist Party will co-opt a heavyweight candidate.

When contacted, Dr Micallef said: "I confirm I am applying for the post... 100 per cent."

On the other hand, the only other possible candidate for the casual election, Siġġiewi mayor Robert Musumeci, said he would not comment on the matter until the "opportune moment".

Mr Musumeci will start the casual election in the sixth district with 165 votes, the number inherited by Mr Dalli when Mr Musumeci was eliminated in the general election.

This would give him a head-start over Dr Micallef who would start the race with no votes.

However, Dr Micallef is expected to make up the numbers since he has a strong support base in Qormi, Mr Dalli's hometown. Dr Micallef would also benefit from the alphabetical placing of his surname, which puts him one notch above Mr Musumeci on the list.

Given traditional voting patterns, he is likely to inherit a substantial number of votes from those who cast their preference from top to bottom for all of their chosen party's candidates. Speaker Louis Galea was among the candidates for the post until his nomination to the European Court of Auditors last week.

A casual election has to be held even if there is one candidate for the seat.

The next MP would have to achieve at least half the quota, or 1,878 votes, to be elected.

The government would otherwise be free to co-opt whoever it wished - names being touted for the post included former PN general secretary Joe Saliba and MEP Simon Busuttil.

The government and the opposition have agreed to suspend Parliament for over two weeks until March 1 as a result of the casual election.

Should Parliament remain active, Mr Dalli's resignation could result in voting parity given that the government has a one-seat majority and there is no pairing agreement with the opposition.

Mr Dalli, the Social Policy Minister, is expected to vacate his parliamentary seat in the coming days when he officially takes up his post as EU commissioner.

In the meantime, speculation is rife over who will be replacing Dr Galea in the Speaker's seat.

The names being mentioned so far include former parliamentary secretary Helen D'Amato as well as serving MPs Francis Zammit Dimech and Michael Frendo.