The Nationalist Party has approved former minister Ċensu Galea and former Gozitan MP Kevin Cutajar to contest the local council elections in St Paul’s Bay and Xagħra, in its efforts to win majorities in the two localities.
Sources close to the Nationalist Party said two former MPs are “vote magnets” and could help the party attract more votes that could swing the council in the PN’s favour.
They are not the only former parliamentarians eyeing a position within local councils: former Labour parliamentary secretary Anthony Agius Decelis will also contest the local council elections in Mosta, his hometown.
As revealed by Times of Malta earlier this month, PN is heading towards the June 8 elections with two main targets: a third seat in the European Parliament and overturning majorities in at least five councils including include the councils in San Ġwann, Mosta, Valletta, Siġġiewi, St Paul’s Bay, Mellieħa and Birkirkara.
In the last round in 2019, the PN achieved just short of 600 fewer first-preference votes than the Labour Party in St Paul’s Bay. Sources said residents are generally dissatisfied with the performance of the Labour-led council in the past five years so the PN is trying to regain the majority it had in the past.
In Xagħra, Labour beat the PN by almost 1,000 first-count votes in the locality that was always a Labour stronghold. Cutajar served as a councillor in Xaghra and received almost 800 first-preference votes in the 2019 council election, almost 300 more than the Labour candidate who was eventually chosen as the mayor.
Galea: A decades-long political career
Galea, 67, has strong roots in St Paul’s Bay and his daughter, now a PN MP, served as mayor of the locality before she was elected to parliament.
He started his political career as secretary of the Nationalist Party Club in St Paul's Bay. Between 1978 and 1981 he served as secretary general and president of the Youth Section of the Nationalist Party.
An architect by profession, he first contested the general elections in 1981 but failed to get elected. He was elected member of parliament in the general elections in 1987, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2003 and 2008 and 2013.
He served as a parliamentary secretary, shadow minister and then minister in various administrations throughout that time, as well as deputy speaker.
Cutajar: A return to his roots
For Cutajar, running as a Xagħra local council candidate represents a return to his political roots.
The lawyer served on the Gozitan town's council uninterruptedly between 2007 and 2019, when he was co-opted into parliament as an Opposition MP, following the resignation of David Stellini.
Cutajar then sought reelection in the 2022 general election. He placed third among his party's candidates, coming behind elected MPs Alex Borg and Chris Said.
Agius Decelis: A return to politics
Agius Decelis was among the biggest casualties of the 2022 general election, when he failed to get reelected after a 14-year career in parliament as a Labour MP.
In 2020, Prime Minister Robert Abela had left him out of his new cabinet but he had vouched to continue working for the party. Within two months, he was appointed non-executive chairman of the state-run Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation.