District 12 profile: Many are out, who is in?

Daniel Ellul looks at district 12, which consists of Mellieħa, Mġarr, St Paul’s Bay and Burmarrad.

Read all the district profiles here.

Both Labour (PL) and the Nationalist Party (PN) will see new faces enter parliament from district 12. 

On the PL side, MPs Clayton Bartolo and Michael Farrugia are not contesting while PN whip Robert Cutajar’s name is also not on the ballot. 

The district that includes Mellieħa and St Paul’s Bay was redistricted last year, with Naxxar removed and Mġarr included. That change is likely to favour the PN.

‘No housing or job requests here’

Overall, the district is one of the more affluent areas in Malta.

“My colleagues in the south and centre usually say that constituents ask for jobs or housing, over here very few do... Here, people often ask for help with agricultural leases or bring up delays with the Planning Authority,” one district insider told Times of Malta. 

Sources familiar with the district also pointed to overdevelopment as an issue, particularly in Mellieħa following a controversial 4,000-square-metre development, a 109-unit apartment block in Qortin. 

Constituents in Xemxija, where several new developments are taking place at the same time, and Mġarr have also expressed their concerns. 

Those living in Mellieħa often also complain about the stretch of road from the top of Xemxija to the St Paul’s Bay bypass. 

“There’s a real bottleneck over there, and it usually takes anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes to pass through the area. Getting out of Mellieħa is a real nightmare,” one insider said. 

Several politicians also said that constituents in St Paul’s Bay often have raised concerns about crime. 

Which seat will Alex Borg keep?

PN leader Alex Borg is expected to receive the lion’s share of first-count votes in the district, meaning PN hopefuls will be mostly looking at winning his second preference votes. 

If Borg gives up his district 12 seat in favour of his district 13 (Gozo) seat – Borg’s home territory – incumbent MPs Ivan Castillo and Graziella Galea are strong contenders to take up the seat.

Castillo, from Mellieħa, was first elected in 2022, managing to earn slightly more first-count votes than Cutajar. He is again running on Saturday and is expected to maintain his seat. 

Galea was the PN’s only woman to be elected outright four years ago. Other female MPs either made it to parliament via casual election or through the gender corrective mechanism.

She managed to win by beating businessman Ivan Bartolo, by five votes on the 20th count. 

Exodus of PN candidates

Bartolo, who had been elected on the ninth district anyway (despite earning fewer first-count votes than the 12th district), will not be contesting the election. 

Claudette Buttigieg, who managed to garner over 1,000 votes but failed to get elected on her own steam, will also not run again this time around. 

“Bartolo, Buttigieg and Cutajar not contesting means something like 4,000 or 5,000 PN votes are now politically homeless,” one district insider said. 

The exodus of PN politicians from the district means that many have flocked to the district hoping to replace them. 

“Four years ago, there were six from our party; this time around its almost doubled to 11.”

Why those districts George? 

George Vital Zammit, David Bonello, Charles Azzopardi and Ian Vassallo (known as Hagi) will all be vying for that third PN seat. 

PN insiders questioned the thinking behind Vital Zammit running in two districts that are known to require a heavy dose of constituency work. Besides District 12, the academic who wrote the PN’s electoral programme has his name on the District 6 ballot.

“Both districts include close-knit communities and villages – in general, you need to really work those constituencies, attend events, knock on doors, and so on. Vital Zammit is a new face – the party might want him, but whether voters in those districts do is another question entirely.

“Someone like George would fare better in areas like Sliema (district 10), where people appreciate a technocrat more.”

Azzopardi, a former PL mayor of Rabat who managed to gain traction in Mġarr, was surely among those who were disappointed with last year’s redistricting exercise. While the two towns were in the same district in 2022 (District 7), Mġarr has now moved to District 12 – splitting Azzopardi’s voting base in two.

The same is true for Vassallo –  from Rabat – who had been courting Mġarr voters for three years before the town moved to district 12. As a result, Vassallo is running in the district, but most of his efforts are focused on district 7. 

Lawyer, party executive council member and former NET journalist David Bonello could also be a dark horse in the race.

PL’s Clayton Bartolo and Michael Farrugia out... who is in?

The two MPs elected on the PL ticket in 2022 are not seeking re-election.

Farrugia had remained a backbencher throughout this legislature.

Bartolo was sacked as tourism minister and removed from the PL parliamentary group amid scandals.

Despite not being a member of Labour’s parliamentary group, Bartolo had been campaigning in the hope of clearing his name before the election. He failed to be welcomed back to the PL fray in time and, therefore, announced he would not run. 

Justice Minister Jonathan Attard, who contested the district but narrowly missed a seat (he was elected via District 4), is now the favourite to be the party’s top performer in the district. 

Attard is from Tarxien but has lived in Mellieħa for some time and has dedicated a good portion of the last four years to Malta’s northernmost district. As justice and construction reform minister, he also has a national portfolio. 

The party’s second seat is up for grabs. 

Franco Mercieca, a Gozitan ophthalmologist, served in one of Joseph Muscat’s first ministerial teams. Back in 2013, Mercieca made it to parliament via the Gozo district. This time, he is contesting District 12.

Bartolo is said to be supporting Mercieca’s candidacy and was even invited as a special guest during Mercieca’s closing event on Tuesday. 

Fisheries junior minister Alicia Bugeja Said, from Mġarr, also has her hat in the District 12 ring.

She had contested District 7, which included Mġarr in 2022, but has now moved her candidacy along with the town to District 12. 

Carlos Zarb, a former St Paul’s Bay deputy mayor,  could also perform well in the district. 

ADPD chair Sandra Gauci is also contesting the district. In 2024, she was elected to the St Paul’s Bay local council. It stands to be seen how she will perform in the general election. 

The candidates contesting the district are:

ADPD: Gauci Sandra, Caruana Luke Joe.

Aħwa Maltin: Elmer Simon.

Labour Party: Attard Jonathan, Bugeja Said Alicia, Cachia Naomi, Cutajar Rosianne, Schembri Deborah, Mercieca Franco, Spiteri Damien, Zarb Carlos, Zarb Romilda.

Momentum: Asciak Carmel.

Nationalist Party: Azzopardi Charles, Bonello David Anthony, Borg Alex, Castillo Ivan, Galea Graziella, Mifsud Anthony, Grech Joseph Mark, Muscat Jonathan Albert, Vassallo Ian Mario, Williams Rachel Antoinette, Zammit George Vital.

Read all the district profiles here.