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Kurt Sansone
As the general election approaches and candidates start jockeying for positions in their respective electoral districts the usual digs at fellow contestants from the same party start emerging more clearly and sometimes in the most unlikely of places.
It went almost unnoticed but during the Vodafone business Today meeting last Friday, during which Minister Austin Gatt was invited to speak on transforming Malta into a knowledge-based economy, Labour candidate Martin Debono took a dig at his 10 district rival Evarist Bartolo after the latter congratulated Dr Gatt for parachuting Malta into the 21 century as regards information technology.
Reacting to Gatt’s speech, Bartolo started his brief intervention by congratulating Gatt’s unstinting efforts to push forward government’s information technology policy, a comment that was also reiterated by a second speaker from the floor.
It was then Martin Debono’s turn to speak and before getting to his point, the architect, who represents the Labour Party on the Sliema local council, felt he had to break the ice in an unorthodox fashion.
“All this mutual respect and congratulatory remarks…,” Debono teased. The remark brought a smile on the faces of those present.
The passing comment was an obvious dig at Evarist Bartolo’s moderate intervention a few minutes before and which had also included references on the need to make ICT a core competence for primary school students.
It is no secret that the 10 electoral district, normally the scene of intense rivalry between Nationalist candidates, will also be the battle ground of a harsh battle between Labour candidates in the forthcoming election.
Evarist Bartolo, the affable former education minister has called the 10 district his home since the 1992 election. His share of the vote decreased from a high of 3,251 in 1996 to 2,072 in 2003. Even so, Bartolo remained the Labour candidate with the highest number of votes.
This time around Bartolo will, however have to face the challenge of deputy leader Michael Falzon, who has already signalled his intention to contest the 10 and 2 electoral districts. The third formidable challenger is Joseph Cuschieri who saw his share of the vote increase to 1,961 in 2003. Cuschieri was subsequently elected in a by-election after Bartolo relinquished his seat on the 10 district having been elected also in the Mellieha district.
Where does Martin Debono feature in all this?
For a candidate who polled 214 votes in 2003, there seems to be little chance of making any inroads in a district that includes rival heavyweights like Bartolo and Falzon. But having been successfully elected on the Sliema local council for two consecutive rounds, Debono could be hoping for better times ahead.
But it is allegiances also that count in an electoral context that lays emphasis on districts and it seems that Debono has hedged his bets on Falzon hoping to win over any surplus votes in an eventual by-election.
ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt
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