It was a bitter-sweet general election for two new candidates in last Saturday's general election.

The two, both Nationalist candidates, saw their party fall to a historic defeat, and yet they not only made it to the House for the first time, but they made it from two districts.

Prominent lawyer Joe Giglio was contesting for the first time and was elected from the ninth and tenth districts.

 

Mark Anthony Sammut, president of the PN general council and a Gudja councillor, was elected from the fourth and 10th districts, having failed to get elected in 2017.

The biggest casualties of the election were Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo, Culture Minister Jose’ Herrera and former Transport Minister Joe Mizzi, all long-serving Labour MPs, and Nationalist MPs Jason Azzopardi, Karol Aquilina, Claudette Buttigieg and Toni Bezzina.

Among the gainers, four political heavyweights who were actually contesting the elections for the first time, were also elected from two districts. 

They were Bernard Grech, elected from the fifth and 11th districts, Adrian Delia, from the seventh and the eighth districts, Miriam Dalli also from the fifth and the 11th, and Clyde Caruana from the second and the eighth.

 

Herrera was the first candidate for Labour to get elected from the first district in 2017 but just failed to make it this time. Newcomer Keith Azzopardi Tanti was the first candidate to be elected instead.

Azzopardi Tanti, an accountant by profession and endorsed by Joseph Muscat during the election campaign, was twice mayor of Pieta’.

Another successful newcomer on the first district, this time for the PN, was Darren Carabott, who, surprisingly, was elected ahead of long-serving former minister Mario de Marco.

A young lawyer and former Sta Venera councillor, Carabott took the seat made vacant by the 11th-hour decision by Nationalist front-bencher Claudio Grech not to seek re-election.

The second district saw the election for the first time of  Alison Zerafa Civelli, the sister of the prime minister’s wife, Lydia Abela.

Zerafa Cifelli, a teacher by profession, served as mayor of Cospicua and was a member on the boards of Enemed, Transport Malta, Infrastructure Malta the the Cottonera Foundation.

Fiery Labour MP Glenn Bedingfield and Oliver Scicluna, the former chairman of the Commission for Persons with Disability failed to get elected. Bedingfield had been elected by a casual election from the second district when Joseph Muscat gave up his seat there in 2017 and will be hoping that Robert Abela does the same this time round.

Scicluna also contested the second district, as well as the fourth on Saturday and he too could have a chance in casual elections. His claim to fame during the electoral campaign was the way he asked voters to stop promising him their vote in exchange for favours, saying he felt “offended” by such requests.

Also still waiting for election is controversial former parliamentary secretary Rosianne Cutajar, who lost out to Transport Minister Ian Borg on the sixth district but could still make it through a casual election or the quota for women.

Another former parliamentary secretary who failed to make it was Tony Agius Decelis, who was left out of the Cabinet by Robert Abela in 2020.

Sunday was a good day for Ian Borg and Research and Innovation Minister Owen Bonnici, elected for the first time from two districts, the sixth and the seventh for the former and the third and the fifth for Bonnici.

The last Mifsud Bonnici 

This election could also see the end of the parliamentary career of Carm Mifsud Bonnici, a former justice minister, who last time was elected through the allocation of extra seats for proportional representation in parliament. Mifsud Bonnici had been an MP since 1998, effectively taking over from his father Ugo, who himself had taken over from his father Carmelo Il-Gross.

Over the years the Mifsud Bonnici family, through its various branches, was also represented by former Labour prime minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, his brother, but Nationalist parliamentary secretary Antoine, and his daughter Paula. She failed to get directly elected too.

Among other Nationalist MPs who failed re-election were former mayors  Edwin Vassallo (Mosta), Karl Gouder (St Julians) and Maria Deguara (Naxxar). 

Newcomers on either side in Gozo

Among other newcomers were Labour’s Chris Bonnett, a lawyer on the fourth district, the district previously contested by Konrad Mizzi, and surgeon Jo-Etienne Abela, who won the seat vacated by former minister Justyne Caruana who did not seek re-election on the Gozo district after resigning a few months ago after awarding a contract to a close friend.  

PN newcomer Jerome Caruana Cilia, a risk and governance manager in a local bank and a well known personality on Net FM  was elected for the first time. He had a very good showing, becoming the first candidate to be elected on the sixth district, taking the seat of former PN general secretary Clyde Puli, who did not seek re-election. Ivan Castillo, the minority leader at Mellieħa council, was elected for the first time, for the PN, on the 12th district, denying Claudette Buttigieg.

Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis could be proud of himself for being directly elected from the eighth district, surviving the fallout from his Gaħan comment. He had only made it through a casual election in 2017 but there were plenty of votes for Labour candidates in the eighth district, with Chris Cardona, Edward Scicluna and Ian Castaldi Paris not having sought relection. The big winner, of course was Clyde Caruana.

That district also saw the election of a newcomer for the PN, Justin Schembri, a teacher and councillor in Birkirkara.

PN deputy leader David Agius, elected from the eighth and the 11th districts in 2017, was only elected from the latter this time.

Ivan Bartolo was elected directly for the PN having made it through a casual election last time and then given up his seat for Bernard Grech.

Gozo saw the election of another newcomer for the Nationalist Party, Alex Borg, a lawyer and former Mr World Malta. His election and that of former minister Chris Said meant failure for Claudette Buttigieg and lawyers Kevin Cutajar and Joe Ellis, both previously co-opted.