District 1 profile: New faces eye breakthrough in bellwether district

As the electoral campaign hits the halfway mark, Times of Malta will be providing a district-by-district look at the key electoral battles, the candidates to watch and the issues shaping voters’ choices. Daniel Ellul begins in the first district, which includes Valletta, part of Birkirkara, Fleur-de-lys, Floriana, Ħamrun, Marsa, Guardamangia and Santa Venera. Read all the district profiles here.

The first electoral district has long been considered a bellwether in Maltese politics with voting results in the district usually reflecting the country’s general sentiment.

In 2008, the Labour Party narrowly won three of the five seats in the district with the PN winning the remaining two. In that election the PN returned to government with a razor-thin majority.

Since then, the PL have kept three seats in the district, all with margins of victories that have steadily increased, reaching 60 per cent in the last election.

The district is also among Malta’s most “demanding”, party insiders from the PL and PN say. One experienced politician said that the demands stem from the fact that the area is more disadvantaged than others.

“What most people from the area ask for is finding a government job or social accommodation,” they said.

New candidates running in the district from both parties have an opportunity to get into parliament after former PL-minister Aaron Farrugia and popular PN MP Mario de Marco decided not to run for re-election.

No cabinet ministers on PL tickets

Unlike some districts where three cabinet ministers and the prime minister (district 5) are running on the same ballot, only two incumbent parliamentary secretaries – Keith Azzopardi Tanti and Glenn Bedingfield - are on the district one voting sheets.

Bedingfield is dedicating most of his re-election efforts on the second district.

Azzopardi Tanti was first elected to parliament in the last election but managed to acquire more first count votes than Farrugia and Deo Debattista who were both incumbents.

The junior minister for youth, research and innovation will be hoping for a good showing in the polls to persuade Robert Abela to promote him to a cabinet minister.

Although he is also running on the eighth district, it is here that Azzopardi Tanti has been working on to solidify his base over the last four years.

One thing going against him is that most of Pietà, the locality he was once mayor of, has been removed from the district.

Insiders say Azzopardi Tanti has kept in close contact with his constituents but several of his Labour colleagues have done the same, including Debattista, a family doctor who was first elected to parliament in 2013 and has kept his seat since.

Debattista’s medical profession means he meets constituents on a daily basis.

Cressida Galea and Davina Sammut Hili, who was deputy whip, both made it to parliament via the gender corrective mechanism in 2022. They will be hoping that the national platform provided by their first parliamentary stint will help them get elected outright.

Eight candidates who are not sitting MPs are also running on the PL ticket.

They include Nigel Vella, who is president of Ħamrun’s St Gaetano band club, and Olaf McKay, the Valletta mayor, who will be hoping to take advantage of their local support to get to parliament.

Vella, the government’s former deputy head of communications, is considered to be a Labour Party insider. Serving until recently as advisor to Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri, Vella was made CEO of the Mediterranean Conference Centre. He was also presenting ONE’s Sunday morning newspaper analysis programme ‘Paper Scan’, until recently.

Another candidate with a national platform is Josef Bugeja who, until a few weeks ago, was general secretary of the General Workers’ Union, which has close ties to the Labour Party.

Bugeja, running also on district eight, served in his union role for over 10 years. He only began publicly flirting with the idea of an electoral bid in April.

Similarly, Fleur Abela, who was made animal rights commissioner in October, only started to consider contesting in March. She is also competing on district eight.

Running on two districts effectively doubles a candidate’s chances of getting elected but it is not always that simple.

“Constituents on the first district are a jealous bunch; they don’t like it when a candidate takes on two districts – they want you all to themselves,” one politician from the district told Times of Malta.

A Mario-de-Marco-shaped hole for the PN

The PN are likely to elect two parliamentary seats in the district, although the new additions to the district – Fleur De Lys and parts of Birkirkara – could mean more votes than past elections going to the Nationalist Party.

Former minister and veteran MP de Marco will not be running, leaving Darren Carabott as the only PN MP who was elected outright in the last election.

Retaining his home affairs spokesperson role after Alex Borg was elected PN leader in September, Carabott has become one of the PN parliamentary group’s senior figures.

The PN MP from Santa Venera is also chair of parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, the only committee the opposition chairs.

Having fared well in the last election, receiving a similar number of first count votes as de Marco, Carabott will be hoping for a better showing come May 30.

Carabott will be joined by the party’s deputy leader, Alex Perici Calascione on the district. The latter is currently not an MP.

Following his election as deputy leader, Perici Calascione kept a low profile when Bernard Grech was leader but has featured more prominently under Borg’s leadership.

The deputy leader is also contesting the ninth district, which leans in favour of the Nationalist Party. Sources say he is mostly focusing his election efforts there.

Should he be elected on both districts, PN rules dictate that an MP must keep the seat where an MP has garnered most votes.

Paula Mifsud Bonnici made it to parliament via the gender corrective mechanism in 2022. However, the deputy whip garnered the third most first count votes in that election among the PN – 1,748, indicating that she has a solid shot of getting to parliament on her own steam.

A new candidate – Antonello Cuschieri – could be the PN’s dark horse in the district with sources saying that a number of canvassers who used to help de Marco are now canvassing for him.

Floriana deputy mayor James Aaron Ellul is also a contender for a seat in the district. Ellul had contested in 2022 but had failed to get elected with his 955 first count votes.

Justin Schembri is also a candidate. However, the sitting MP only received 267 first count votes from the district in 2022 as opposed to the 2,222 he received on the eight district.

All the candidates running on the district are:

ADPD: Zerafa Mark-Anthony.

Aħwa Maltin: Aquilina Giuseppe, Mallia Francis.

Imperium Europa: Cross Eman Alexander.

Labour Party: Abela Fleur, Azzopardi Tanti Keith, Bedingfield Glenn, Borg Debono Grech Yana, Bugeja Joseph (Josef), Debattista Deo, Galea Cressida, Grech John-Joseph, McKay Olaf, Sammut Hili Davina, Vella Nigel, Zarb Francesca.

Momentum: McBee Billy.

Nationalist Party: Carabott Darren, Cuschieri Antonello, Ellul James Aaron, Mifsud Bonnici Paula, Schembri Justin, Perici Calascione Alex.