Jason Azzopardi fails election as Karol Aquilina wins seat

Apr 12 2022

As frontbencher Karol Aquilina managed to win a seat in parliament during the Nationalist Party’s casual election, Jason Azzopardi failed to make it into parliament.

After the two politicians failed to make it into parliament through the general election, concerns were raised by the public after discovering that they were both contesting the casual election.

The zeitgeist of many in Malta was that since the two politicians were clearly ‘unwanted’ as could be seen in the general election, the two should not have contested the casual election.

It seems as though however that Aquilina will be returning to parliament, but Jason will not. This correlates with the call to not re-elect the ‘Blue Heroes’. This refers to a faction of the PN which wanted Adrian Delia to step down as Opposition leader, despite him being elected during the general election.

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Eve Borg Bonello set to become youngest MP in Malta and (probably) the world

Eve Borg Bonello becomes Malta's youngest MP through Gender Quota Mechanism

Apr 12 2022

Indications have shown that the Nationalist Party’s Eve Borg Bonello will become the youngest Member of Parliament in Malta and probably the rest of the world.

The 18-year-old became the youngest candidate in Malta’s political history, contesting on ninth and tenth district in the 2022 general election, after occupying the post of President within the PN’s youth wing Team Start.

Malta continues to make European benchmarks in this regard after earlier this year, Roberta Metsola become the youngest-ever EU Parliament President on January 18th.

With Rebekah Cilia getting into parliament on the 7th district via casual election Borg Bonello is set to make it into parliament.

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Anglu Farrugia keen to retain his Speaker role

Apr 12 2022

Anglu Farrugia said he is keen to carry on as parliament’s speaker as a new parliamentary term is set to begin. As speculation continues to germinate, Labour MP Michael Farrugia was being touted as one potential candidate.

Contacted by Times of Malta about his future role, Anglu Farrugia confirmed that he is interested in continuing his role. The country’s first full-time speaker pointed towards reforms giving greater autonomy to parliament during his nine-year tenure.

The choice on who gets the Speaker seat falls on Prime Minister Robert Abela. Farrugia was appointed to the position back in 2013 months after his dramatic resignation as Labour’s deputy leader prior to the election.

Before the standard commissioner’s office was set up, Farrugia had long lamented how he was powerless to take any action to investigate the mandatory financial declarations filed by all MPs. This also prompted Opposition leader Bernard Grech to accuse Farrugia of using his rulings and casting vote to hinder or render unless the standard commissioner’s and the committee’s work.

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PN urges government to address nurse shortage crisis

Apr 12 2022

The Nationalist Party stressed the need for government to address the crisis of resigning nurses on Monday. Quoting statistics from the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN), it highlighted how around 120 nurses resigned in 2021.

Acknowledging the excellent quality of health care Malta has to offer, the Opposition said that the government cannot keep ignoring the situation month after month.

The PN said that Malta has a health car system which is worth boasting about, but ‘the lack of action by the government when faced with constant warnings by the unions representing these professionals is causing stressing factors within this same health system.’

Calling for proper investment to make any profession in the health sector more attractive, the PN said that the government is only investing in short term and managing the health care system according to whatever the most recent crisis may be.

With a growing population, the PN said that problems need addressing now before it is too late.

#MaltaDaily