Updated 7pm with PN statement
Nationalist MP Therese Comodini Cachia revealed on Friday she will not be contesting the upcoming general election, less than a year after her instrumental role helped bring about a change in party leadership.
The human rights lawyer was elected as MEP before being elected to the Maltese parliament in 2017, but her relatively short stint in Maltese politics served to bring about changes within the PN.
“Partisan polarised parliamentary politics is not the best outfit for me to wear to be able to continue striving for a better place with a fairer community,” Comodini Cachia said cryptically, when contacted.
Last July, she was nominated by the majority of PN MPs to head the Nationalist Party after the incumbent leader Adrian Delia lost a no-confidence vote. A leadership election ensued but she did not put her name forward, paving the way for the election of Bernard Grech.
Partisan polarised parliamentary politics is not the best outfit for me to wear to be able to continue striving for a better place with a fairer community
Comodini Cachia dismissed any suggestion of rifts with the party but said that she would rather make her decision public before the electoral campaign closes in, as she vowed to help her party and colleagues behind the scenes. She will continue serving as an MP until the end of this legislature.
“In every role I have always sought justice and applied a social conscience. Whether it is seeking justice for persons who are victims of human rights violations, addressing a public inquiry into Malta’s most heinous assassination, addressing a party event or addressing parliament, I have continuously tried to do so with the utmost respect to the dignity of the persons involved and to the level of respect every institution deserves.”
Comodini Cachia, who serves as a lawyer for Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family said: “I will continue to do so without the constraints of partisan parliamentary politics. We do not all need to be members of parliament but we all need to contribute towards social justice and a better Malta.
“There are so many things I could say to explain why I have taken this decision but I feel that what is important is not to dwell on these reasons.”
She said she would like the environment to become a priority to stop Malta’s “uglification” and underlined the need for issues of health, economic and social development to stop being “weighed down” with political injustice, control, corruption and abuse of power.
“My colleagues will continue to find my support and I wish each of them the best in their political career under the leadership of Bernard Grech.”
PN thanks Comodini Cachia
The outgoing MP was publicly thanked by her party following her announcement.
"Her work deserves total praise and appreciation from our end," the PN said, adding that Comodini Cachia had "always shown courage and integrity."
"Therese Comodini Cachia will continue working within party structures and the Nationalist Party looks forward to that work and further collaboration," it added.