Miriam Dalli heading for co-option after Labour candidates pull out of casual election

Labour MEP Miriam Dalli is expected to leave Brussels and be co-opted in the Maltese parliament to take up the seat vacated by former prime minister Joseph Muscat • Stefan Buontempo and Mark Causon pull out of casual election

12 October 2020, 12:18pm
by Kurt Sansone

1 min read

Labour MEP Miriam Dalli

Miriam Dalli is set to join Malta’s parliament after Labour’s remaining candidates on the 2nd District will not contest the casual election to fill Joseph Muscat’s seat.

Dalli is expected to leave her seat in the European Parliament and be co-opted to the Maltese parliament, in a move pushed by Prime Minister Robert Abela.

She will take up the seat vacated by Muscat on the 2nd District. The former prime minister resigned from parliament last week.

READ ALSO: Abela lures Dalli to Cabinet

The co-option will only be possible after Abela convinced the Labour Party’s two remaining candidates on the district – former parliamentary secretary Stefan Buontempo and former Green Party candidate Mark Causon – not to contest the casual election.

Nixtieq nirringrazzja lil dawk kollha li ħeġġewni u bagħtuli l-isbaħ xewqat għall-elezzjoni għas-siġġu vakanti tal-Onor...
Posted by Mark Causon on Monday, 12 October 2020

Nominations for the casual election closed at noon today.

Illum erġajt ikkonfermajt dik id-deċiżżjoni li kont ħadt wara li tħabbar ir-riżultat tal-Elezzjoni tas-sena 2017, liema...
Posted by Stefan Buontempo on Monday, 12 October 2020

Causon declared on Facebook that for “personal reasons” he will not be submitting his nomination. Tellingly, he thanked Abela for “his support and advice”.

Likewise, Buontempo said he stuck to his 2017 decision not to re-enter politics.

Dalli’s co-option is likely to result in a Cabinet reshuffle in the coming days, which will see her taking up a ministerial role.

Kurt Sansone is Executive Editor of MaltaToday. He was formerly deputy editor of MaltaTod...