Casual election for Jean Pierre Debono’s seat to be held next week

The electoral commission announced this afternoon that the election will be held on the 30th September

Jean Pierre Debono
Jean Pierre Debono

The casual election for the parliamentary seat vacated by Jean Pierre Debono will be held on 3 October, the electoral commission announced this afternoon.

The election was triggered after newly-elected MP Jean Pierre Debono resigned his seat yesterday to make way for new Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia.

“Eligible candidates who contested the seventh electoral division in the June 2017 General Election and who were not elected may present their nomination form daily from Tuesday 26th till Saturday 30th September at the Electoral Commission’s Office at Evans Building, Merchants Street, Valletta between 9am and noon,” read a statement by the commission.

Since his election as party leader last week, Delia has been negotiating with a number of MPs in order to obtain a seat  in parliament ahead of the its opening next week, however his efforts to convince one of the party’s five candidates elected through a casual election failed.

The resignation of one of the candidates elected through a causal election would have allowed for Delia’s co-option to the house, without the need for a casual election.

Delia must now ensure that none of the candidates who contested the election on the seventh district contest the election.

The Partit Demokratiku yesterday issued a statement saying that despite the fact that it stood no chance of blocking Delia from entering parliament, it would nonetheless be contesting the election.