Labour Decides Which District Seats Will Be Vacated Ahead Of Casual Elections

The Labour Party has officially decided which parliamentary seats will be vacated by MPs elected from two districts, paving the way for a series of casual elections. The decision was taken during the first meeting of the Labour Party’s National Executive following the general election, held jointly with the Parliamentary Group. Through a secret ballot, the Executive determined which districts would be relinquished by MPs who secured election from two separate districts. Prime Minister Robert Abela, who was elected from both the Second and Fifth Districts, will vacate his seat on the Second District. Chris Fearne will relinquish his Third District seat, while Ian Borg will give up his seat on the Seventh District. Clyde Caruana will vacate his Eighth District seat, while both Clifton Grima and Michael Falzon will relinquish seats on the Ninth District after being elected from both the Ninth and Tenth Districts. Miriam Dalli will vacate her Eleventh District seat, while Jonathan Attard will step aside from the Twelfth District. The decisions now set the stage for casual elections in the affected districts, a process through which vacancies created by elected MPs giving up one of their seats are filled. Casual elections are a standard feature of Malta’s electoral system and take place after candidates elected from two districts choose which seat they intend to retain. The outcome of these elections will determine the next MPs to enter Parliament from the Labour Party benches. What do you make of these relinquishments? •