District 13 profile: PN targets Gozo revival

Gozo is viewed as a key prize by both parties, with the PN, led by its Gozitan leader Alex Borg, hoping to flip the island back to blue.

Labour and PN have been keen to emphasise Gozo as a priority during the election campaign.

Prime Minister Robert Abela touted Labour’s 100 election manifesto proposals for the island, while Borg’s pitch is that only a Gozitan prime minister can truly move Gozo out of the “periphery”.

Over the years, Gozo was always considered to be PN leaning but its stronghold on the island began to weaken in 2008, when it lost thousands of votes.

In 2013, despite the PN winning 240 more votes than Labour, it was Labour that elected three MPs to the PN’s two.

The PN eventually gained a third seat following the application of a constitutional amendment designed to ensure that the number of MPs in the House of Representatives is proportional to the total share of votes received by a party.

Labour has been strengthening its Gozo base ever since, winning by 872 votes in 2017 and almost tripling its vote lead to 2,530 in 2022.

Labour’s Gozo line-up features three heavyweight Gozitan ministers who have been battling hard to outdo each other.

Party insiders have spoken of fears that the Gozo and Planning Minister Clint Camilleri, Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo and Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela seem more focused on fighting each other than consolidating the Labour vote on the 13th district.

Times of Malta reported this week how Gozo business owners say they are facing a severe shortage of local staff as ministers have allegedly been handing out jobs in exchange for votes ahead of the election.

Camilleri is popular with the hunting lobby, with hunters and trappers making up a key demographic in Gozo. He enjoys added power of incumbency having served as Gozo minister and is said to be working hard to retain his top spot in Gozo.

His main rival is likely to be Refalo, a veteran campaigner who has been elected to parliament without fail since 1987.

One party source joked that even if Refalo “just sits on his ass” he can still be assured of strong support thanks to his network of loyalists around Gozo.

Both Camilleri and Refalo have Gozo as their sole focus

While election candidates frequently hedge their bets by contesting on two districts, both Camilleri and Refalo have Gozo as their sole focus.

Abela, by contrast, will be splitting his focus between Gozo and the 10th district. He clinched Labour’s third seat in the 2022 election and comes into this election with added clout thanks to his health portfolio.

All three ministers held competing events last Saturday in one of their final pitches to voters.

Abela wheeled out a Pink Floyd tribute band beneath the Cittadella fort, Camilleri was a stone’s throw away at Independence Square, in Victoria while Refalo wooed voters with an open bar rally in Xewkija.

Apart from the heavy-hitting ministers, Abigail Camilleri, who made it to parliament in 2022 thanks to the gender correction mechanism, will be looking to improve on her tally of 394 first count votes and hope to inherit votes once more established candidates reach the required quota.

Labour will also be fielding George Camilleri, who struggled to make an impact last time round with just 38 first count votes.

Alex Borg won 6,000 first count votes in 2022

On the PN side, Borg emerged from the 2022 election as a dark horse, winning over 6,000 first count votes, stunning Gozo’s veteran MP Chris Said, who achieved less than half that.

As party leader, Borg can be sure to amass the bulk of the PN’s vote on the island, with the party’s other candidates Norma Camilleri, Beppe Galea, Luke Said and Frank Anthony Tabone hoping to ride on his coattails once the inherited votes come into play.

Camilleri has the experience of competing with party heavyweights at the national level, having already contested the last European Parliament election, albeit unsuccessfully.

Her support base in Gozo is a bit more of an unknown, however she can expect to benefit from the so-called donkey vote, as she is the next candidate alphabetically listed under Borg on the ballot sheet.

Party insiders say Galea, an assistant to PN MEP David Casa, can expect support from “traditional” PN families in Gozo’s capital Victoria.

Said, a young activist, will be hoping to appeal to those concerned about overdevelopment and environmental degradation in Gozo.

Tabone, who hails from a large Gozitan family, is a former policeman turned lawyer, factors which should all help with his appeal, party insiders say.

The candidates contesting the district are:

ADPD: Caruana Luke Joe. 

Aħwa Maltin: Salomone Paul.

Labour Party: Abela Jo Etienne, Camilleri Abigail, Camilleri Clint, Camilleri George Paul, Refalo Anthony (Anton).

Momentum: Asciak Carmel.

Nationalist Party: Borg Alex, Camilleri Norma, Galea Beppe, Said Luke, Tabone Frank-Anthony.

Read all the district profiles here.