Karl Gouder pulls out of casual election, leaves field open for Emma Portelli Bonnici and Albert Buttigieg

Former Nationalist MP Karl Gouder will not contest the upcoming casual election on the 10th district, leaving the field wide open for Emma Portelli Bonnici and Albert Buttigieg to take a seat in parliament. 

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Gouder said that his duty at present is to focus on his career, especially as Chief Operating Office of the Nationalist Party’s media wing.

“I feel that I should dedicate my time to this and not contest the casual election. I wish the very best to Albert and Emma. Being a member of parliament is the greatest privilege that the peaople can give you, however, this comes with great responsibility,” he wrote. 

Karl Gouder is a former Nationalist MP who lost his seat in the March general election. He previous served on the St Julian’s local council.

He expressed condolences to Robert Arrigo’s family. “Robert was a good family friend and we will always remember him as such.”

Nationalist MP Robert Arrigo died on 18 October after battling cancer over the past few months. His passing left a vacant seat in parliament on the 10th district.

The Nationalist Party was looking to co-opt its deputy leader Alex Perici Calascione, with secretary-general Michael Piccinino exploring the possibility with discussions with possible candidates.

But Albert Buttigieg and Emma Portelli Bonnici submitted their nominations in the casual election, ruling out the possibility for a co-option. 

Lawyer Emma Portelli Bonnici is a liberal candidate, whose pro-choice views broke with tradition at the PN. She had complained after the 2022 election that the party had “made no space” for her and that she had decided to distance herself from certain party decisions.

Albert Buttigieg, mayor of the St Julian’s local council, had been involved in a tiff with the party’s leadership earlier this year when he claimed that his electoral bid was obstructed internally at the whims of a ‘fat cat’ with business interests in St Julian’s.

Buttigieg never mentioned any names. An internal party ethics probe concluded that the party should offer potential whistleblowers greater protection to encourage them to substantiate their claims. It also recommended a revolving doors policy afer former Bernard Grech aide, Ray Bezzina, joined the DB Group just after stepping down from his party role.

In last March’s general election, Arrigo was elected from the 9th and 10th districts. He gave up the 9th District seat in line with the PN’s internal policy regulating dual candidacy MPs. He retained the seat on the Sliema district where he scored more first count votes.

Arrigo died on Tuesday morning with many paying tribute to a man who was not only an MP but also a successful tourism sector entrepreneur and strongly involved in the Sliema community.

This is the second time within the space of five years that a parliamentary seat was vacated as a result of death. In October 2020, PN MP Frederick Azzopardi had passed away at the age of 71, necessitating a casual election in Gozo