Updated | Francis Zammit Dimech off to Brussels as PN MEP

Francis Zammit Dimech is the new PN MEP

Former MP Francis Zammit Dimech will be taking up the seat vacated by Therese Comodini Cachia at the European Parliament. The former MP obtained 15,455 votes, ahead of second placed Norman Vella, who collected 13,013.

In comments after his election, Zammit Dimech “humbly” thanked all those who had voted for him, while thanking Comodini Cachia for her work at the European Parliament over the past years.

“This is a new very important chapter for me in my political life, and one I am looking forward to with the greatest sense of determination, enthusiasm and service towards the nation,” said Zammit Dimech.

An upset never seemed likely, as Zammit Dimech held a comfortable lead throughout the day

The veteran politician added that he was looking forward to working with his colleagues at the European Parliament, especially Nationalist MEPs Roberta Metsola and David Casa.

Asked whether this “new chapter” would also be his last, Zammit Dimech said in politics it was “very difficult to determine in many cases, which was the first or last chapter”.

“The important thing is that one goes from one chapter to the next feeling youthful and full of energy on the inside, irrespective of this age,” said Zammit Dimech.   

The casual election got underway at 8.30am, with Raymond Bugeja, Kevin Cutajar, Helga Ellul, Jonathan Shaw, Norman Vella and Francis Zammit Dimech all vying for Comodini Cachia’s seat.

Zammit Dimech was visibly the favourite to win once the votes started being sorted, as his pile of votes was visibly larger than any of the other candidates’. In fact, after the first count Zammit Dimech had obtained 10,719, some 4,000 votes short of the quota, with the closest two competitors being journalist Norman Vella and businessman Ray Bugeja with 5,557 and 4,635 votes respectively.

The winner was determined after Comodinin Cachia’s 29,580 votes were distributed amongst the candidates according to the voters’ preference.

Jonathan Shaw was the first to be eliminated, having accumulated 2,245 votes after the first count. Helga Ellul was eliminated next and was followed by Kevin Cutajar and Ray Bugeja.

The seat at the European Parliament was made available after Comodini Cachia was elected to the Maltese parliament in the last general election.

The human rights lawyer had originally declared that she would not be taking up her seat in Malta in order to stay on as MEP and help to “rebuild Malta’s reputation abroad”, however, after strong backlash she changed her mind and decided to remain in Malta.

Chris Said and Adrian Delia – two of the three candidates running for Nationalist Party leader – visited the counting hall to meet party officials and candidates over the course of the day.

Delia made an appearance in the morning as proceedings got underway, returning later in the afternoon before the contest was over.