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Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is leaving everyone in his party guessing as to which electoral district he will be contesting in the forthcoming general election.
Candidates are allowed to stand in two districts according to Malta’s electoral laws and with the Prime Minister definitely contesting his traditional second district, it’s his procrastination on his second choice that’s troubling PN candidates, who are at a loss as to how they will conduct their personal campaigns in their respective districts.
Candidates speaking to MaltaToday said Gonzi’s reluctance to declare his second preference is sending their home campaigns in disarray.
Party insiders are however suggesting that the PN’s central administration want the Labour Party to continue guessing about the election date, and also Gonzi’s second-choice district.
Traditionally, the presence of a party leader on a district means fellow competing candidates will be asking for a second-preference vote at election time.
In the past there were exceptions to this unspoken rule. The late Joe Fenech, a former Nationalist minister for justice, contested in the same district as Eddie Fenech Adami and had the temerity to ask voters for their first preference, and still got elected.
And the complicated single transferable vote system has meant many successful candidates getting elected after inheriting a fraction of the thousands of votes of super-candidates and party leaders like Eddie Fenech Adami, and Labour leaders Dom Mintoff, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici and Alfred Sant hitting more than double the electoral quota.
Party insiders believe Gonzi might go for the northern districts predominantly dominated by Nationalist majorities, namely the eleventh district that includes Mosta, Attard, Mdina and Balzan, or the seventh district that includes Zebbug, Dingli, Mgarr, Mtarfa and Rabat.
These two districts however are already host to important names on the PN’s candidate list, such as Rabat notary Tony Abela, minister Censu Galea and his junior minister Edwin Vassallo, and backbenchers David Agius, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Joe Cassar.
The eight district, which includes the large town of Birkirkara and the former battleground on which Eddie Fenech Adami and Alfred Sant get elected, seems to have been discarded as a possible choice due to candidatures by deputy prime minister Tonio Borg, parliamentary secretary Tonio Fenech, and Beppe Fenech Adami.
Fenech Adami’s son will be contesting for the first time in Birkirkara where he is expected to reap the advantages of his father’s legacy.
As Lawrence Gonzi has never contested the first district, as it includes his birthplace Valletta, many within the PN consider it to be a “very possible option”.
However, it isn’t excluded that a potential surprise will be launched by announcing Gonzi as a candidate on the ninth electoral district, that includes Gharghur, Msida, San Gwann, Swieqi and Ta’ Xbiex, and traditionally a PN stronghold that can deliver a hefty vote count for the premier.
The ninth district has returned Dolores Cristina to parliament, but experienced a vacuum following the departure of former foreign minister Joe Borg to take up his place as a Commissioner in the EU.
And other Nationalist strongholds such as Sliema and Gozo districts are seen by many as improbable choices for Lawrence Gonzi.
The possible scenarios being talked about have so far excluded the possibility of Gonzi confronting Alfred Sant on any district.
Eddie Fenech Adami retains the record for the largest number of votes ever garnered by any one candidate. It is to be seen if Lawrence Gonzi can recreate Fenech Adami’s magnetic pull on the Nationalist and floating voters.
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