Labour Party approves Claudette Abela Baldacchino and Jesmond Marshall as MEP candidates
The Labour Party has approved two new candidates for the European Parliament elections in June of this year.
In a statement on Thursday, the PL said that the candidates approved by the PL’s National Executive are Claudette Abela Baldacchino and Jesmond Marshall.
Claudette Abela Baldacchino, from Qrendi, was born on 17 February, 1973. She has served as a Member of the European Parliament, a member of the EU Committee of the Regions, and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe on behalf of the country’s local councils. She has also served as Vice President of the Socialist Group in both European institutions and as a member of the executive committee of PES Women.
In Malta, Abela Baldacchino served as Deputy Mayor of Qrendi and Vice President of the Local Councils Association. She began her political involvement in the Labour Party in 1987 during the leadership of former PL Prime Minister, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, when she was only 13 years old, and served in various positions within the party, including Administration and National Executive, local committees, and also as President of the Councillors Section. Former Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, trusted the leadership of Nisa Laburisti as president, “where she led a progressive agenda favouring reforms, among them the IVF laws to enable more families to have children and become parents”.
She was a journalist for a number of years in the ONE newsroom, after they were established by Former Prime Minister, Alfred Sant.
Abela Baldacchino has also worked in the social field for a number of years and has served in various other roles in public entities.
The Labour Party said that she holds an M.Sc in Governance and Management, a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Administration, and a Diploma in Women and Development Studies, the party said. She is married to Kevin Abela and they have two children, Pinar and Arthur. Sunshine, the cat, complements the family.
Jesmond Marshall was born on 1 December, 1965, in Mtarfa. He began his education at a school in Cyprus and eventually continued at the primary and secondary schools in Paola. He also followed a two-year course at the College for Tourism Studies.
In 1984, he started his career as a Health Assistant for four years until 1988. Later, in 1996, he joined the Malta Drydocks and was tasked with the supervision of the drydocks. In 2003, he was among the 900 workers laid off from the Malta Drydocks, the PL said.
Since his youth, he has been an activist for the Labour Party. For 15 years, he was a member of the Socialist Youth Association of Santa Luċija.
Marshall was also elected as a member of the local committee of Santa Luċija and later of Sliema. For several years, he also served as a Steward for the Labour Party, where he actively worked on cases against injustices. Apart from his political involvement, Marshall was also a fervent activist in the trade union sector, the party said.
Marshall currently holds the position of Secretary of the Metal and Construction Section of the General Workers’ Union (GWU), where he played a key role in achieving a settlement for over 500 workers’ families to receive compensation from an international court after being affected by cancer related to asbestos exposure at the workplace, the PL said.
Recently, he also entered discussions with the aim of reaching a settlement with former Malta Drydocks workers who filed cases at the Industrial Tribunal.
On a European level, Marshall is a member of the Executive Committee of the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW). He is also a member of the Health and Safety Committee of the same federation. Marshall is married to Marylou and they have a son together.