David Thake, Ivan Bartolo, elected to Parliament after casual election

David Thake and Ivan Bartolo were elected to Parliament on the twelfth and ninth districts respectively after a casual election was held yesterday.

They replace former PN leader Simon Busuttil and Marthese Portelli, respectively, following their resignation last month. Despite being critics of Opposition leader Adrian Delia in the past, both used their first comments to the media as elected MPs to emphasise that they are part of one PN team, and to pledge that they would help the party win the next election.

Thake’s win came after he obtained an identical number of votes – 1,877 – as Graziella Galea, just 73 short of the quota needed to be elected. However, it was Thake who eventually won the seat on the basis of having obtained more votes on the first count than Galea after Simon Busuttil’s votes were redistributed.

Bartolo’s win was more straightforward - he exceeded the quota needed for election after the sixth count, having obtained 2,206 votes. Swieqi Mayor Noel Muscat was closest to Bartolo, ending the sixth count with 1,486 votes, some 500 votes short of the required quota.

When the first count concluded on Thake’s district, Thake held a 331-vote lead over Galea. But, after the elimination of Edward Torpiano (55) and Simone Aquilina (170), it was Sam Abela’s turn to be eliminated, and it was here that matters heated up, as Galea caught up with Thake and they both ended up with 1,877 votes. A recount took place, producing the same result, and dubious votes were discarded by the commission, meaning that the number of votes remained the same for both candidates. The recount was on the last count of votes.

There was then some doubt over who should take the seat. Graziella Galea had obtained 284 first-count votes against Thake’s 126 in 2017, but yesterday’s count that was taken into consideration, with Thake obtaining more second-preference votes from those who had voted from Busuttil than Galea. Galea was therefore eliminated, and Thake was elected with 3,646 votes.

Five candidates contested the casual election to replace Simon Busuttil, while another seven are aiming to take Marthese Portelli’s place. Both Nationalist MPs resigned last month, with Busuttil taking up a post with the European People’s Party.

The candidates for the 12th district (Busuttil’s former seat) were: Sam Abela, Simone Aquilina, Graziella Galea, David Thake, and Edward Torpiano.

Seven nominations were received for the casual election on the ninth district (Portelli’s former seat): Alan Abela Wadge, Graziella Attard Previ, Ivan Bartolo, Roselyn Borg Knight, Albert Buttigieg, Noel Muscat, and Charles Selvaggi.

Both Thake and Bartolo have, in the past, been critical of Opposition leader Adrian Delia.

In 2017, Thake resigned from the St Paul’s Bay Local Council and sent a letter to the Opposition leader, in which he stated: “My position as a local councillor on the PN ticket is – in my opinion – no longer tenable given my views on your suitability as leader of the PN.”

Thake, in his first comments to the press after being elected, said that he is part of the PN team, which has the ultimate goal of helping the party regain the faith of the electorate.

“In the end, the decision is in the hands of the people. Our role, as with every politician, is to see how we can help this party to win. It is something which I need to think about, and which everyone else does, too,” he said.

Asked directly whether he has faith in Adrian Delia’s leadership of the party, Thake once again pointed to the notion that he is now part of a team.

“It is not a question of individuals – we are a team, and together we have to win or lose the people’s faith. My job is to help the party win it back,” he said.

Thake also said that he will work for the good of the country with an emphasis on his district – which includes Buġibba, Qawra, St Paul’s Bay, Naxxar, and Mellieħa. He said that the country is at a crossroads, especially on rule of law and good governance, and noted that it will be very difficult for someone to fill the role which Simon Busutill had in Parliament.

Ivan Bartolo, meanwhile, spoke on similar lines to his new colleague, promising that “the party’s interests will definitely come first” and that he would work to see the party become strong enough to be elected.

Bartolo was another critic of Delia, especially after the drubbing the party received in the MEP elections, and he himself brought forth a vote of no confidence in the party’s leader. Delia retained his post with a 67% majority, which led to Bartolo becoming less vocal and more measured in the public domain.

Pre- empting questions in this regard, Bartolo said that he would continue to work so that the party could move forward. He said that the tools for him to do so are now closer to him, and that moving forward would mean that the PN could gather all the strength it needs to become an alternative government.

Both Thake and Bartolo thanked their predecessors and the electorate in 2017 for the faith they had shown in them.

Thake and Bartolo were elected to Parliament yesterday after a casual election on the twelfth and ninth district respectively. They take the seats of former PN leader Simon Busuttil and Marthese Portelli.

Thake’s path to Parliament was not easy – unprecedented scenes broke out at the Naxxar counting hall after he and Graziella Galea ended the voting redistribution process with an identical number of votes - 1,877, which was 73 short of the quota.

In the end, the Electoral Commission ruled that since Thake had received more first- count votes from Busuttil’s stack of votes, he would be the one to get elected. Galea was hence eliminated, leaving Thake as the last man standing with 3,646 votes to his name.

Bartolo’s path was much more straightforward. His vote total exceeded the quota after the sixth count, finishing some way ahead of his closest rival for the seat, Noel Muscat.

PN deputy leader David Agius said at the Naxxar Counting Hall that the duo will be sworn in as MPs today.