CASUAL ELECTIONS

Deborah Schembri says it is ‘unlikely’ she will get elected

The general election saw a number of high profile Labour Party members fail to make it to parliament.

However, the casual elections have opened the door for several former Ministers and Parliamentary, who missed out in the election, to form part of parliament.

With the Casual elections to fill seven extra Labour seats due to take place on Tuesday 20 June, The Malta Independent contacted former cabinet members Manuel Mallia, Edward Zammit Lewis, and Deborah Schembri to get there take on possible upcoming role as backbenchers, and their electoral result.

Zammit Lewis was contacted by the newsroom, but was unavailable.

Deborah Schembri

Former Parliamentary Secretary for Lands Deborah Schembri insisted that it was very unlikely that she will get elected, in spite of claims in the media, given that her closest competitor, Clayton Bartolo, will start off with a 1,000vote advantage of votes transferred to Evarist Bartolo.

“Since I contested with Evarist Bartolo till the 25th count, I did not transfer any votes to him.”

She also said that the fact that the two men share a surname, while hers would feature at the bottom of list, meant that she had an even smaller chance of gaining the votes required.

Schembri maintained that she performed well, having gained 2,330 first count votes on the eleventh district, 750 more than her election in 2013, when she also entered parliament through casual election.

She said it was always going to be tough for her to get elected competing on traditionally nationalist districts.

Asked whether her cabinet position had any bearing, Schembri maintained that she performed well in the two districts she contested in, and that in her year and three months serving as Parliamentary Secretary for Lands, she was able to reform its structure, while also consolidating legislation to be “up to scratch” with EU regulations. Schembri maintained that a lot of work still needed to be done.

“People recognised that I worked a tremendous amount.”

Manuel Mallia

Former Minister of Home Affairs Manuel Mallia told the newsroom that he “will remain an active backbencher as [he had] been in the past.”

“On the campaign trail I got the impression that social housing is an issue, especially their maintenance. For example, these apartments are home to an ageing population and need lifts to accommodate them. We should also look to improve these areas to make them green and social lungs were families would enjoy living, like was done with the park in the Ta’ Zwejt area of San Gwann.”

Mallia, who was made the Minister for Competitiveness, the Digital Economy and Maritime Service during a re-shuffle in the previous legislature, also said that he will also focus on the sectors, along with the introduction of medical marijuana, saying that currently Maltese society is “still skeptical.”

The criminal lawyer confirmed that he will be moving back to the private sector for the time being, in fact he said that it was “his life” and he has already reopened his office.

On the possibility of becoming a minister, he maintained that it was the PM’s prerogative, and remained coy saying that it will all depend on the time and project.

Mallia insisted that he achieved a lot during his tenure as Minister for Competitiveness and Digital, Maritime and Services Economy, specifically in the field of iGaming, were he presented draft legislation to the cabinet to reduce bureaucracy in the sector and enhance b2b industries.

He also pointed to the EU dossier on data roaming, which means that there would be no more extra charges on phones in EU countries as of yesterday, that was achieved during Malta’s EU Presidency.

On his performance in the general, he said that he did not know why he did not get elected.

Asked on the effects of the Sheehan case and the allegations regarding the Gozo drugs case on his campaign, Mallia said that with relation the Sheehan, it had been proven that he had nothing to do with the incident. On the Gozo drugs case, he said that the allegations were false, and said his 45 year career in criminal law showed the level of professionalism.

“I did not drive all the way up with a police motorcade to Gozo, to assist drug dealers.”