Race for Coleiro Preca’s votes hots up

MPs and other prospective candidates in the sixth district have already started manoeuvring in an attempt to garner votes that will be left behind by Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, sister newspaper Illum reports.

Coleiro Preca resigned her parliamentary seat to take the presidency, leaving behind 5,700 votes up for grabs.

Illum is informed that MPs based in this district have already started an exercise to reach out to known canvassers and voters who supported Coleiro Preca during the past years, in a bid to strengthen their own position in the next general election.

Since 1998, Coleiro Preca dominated the standings and garnered a total of eighteen thousand votes in just four general elections.

Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes is posed to be the most advantaged candidate after Coleiro Preca’s departure. Being also based in Qormi, Galdes was always the most candidate who inherited votes from the new president, having inherited around 600 in the past election and 1,100 in 2008.

The other MP, Silvio Schembri, opened an office in Qormi just days ago in an attempt to get closer to the Qormi constituents. Despite living in Luqa, he may continue increasing his tally as he did in the last general election where he managed to outseat his uncle and long-serving MP, Charles Mangion. The latter will most probably enter parliament through the upcoming by-elections, but is expected to be another heavyweight in four years time on the sixth district. MTA chairman Gavin Gulia is also expected to contest.

But the absence of Coleiro Preca may require the Labour Party to present new faces in four years time. Robert Abela, son of President Emeritus George Abela, is considered as an ideal candidate by both the Labour administration and also by the electorate.

However, informed sources told Illum that while Abela would appeal to both traditional labour voters and floaters, it is still uncertain whether he would give up several legal contracts he was awarded during the years in order to enter the political fray.

Current Qormi mayor Rosianne Cutajar may also be a potential candidate, making up for the loss of a female candidate. On her political debut in 2012, Cutajar won the local council elections in Qormi and was elected mayor.

In this context, her performance in the upcoming local council elections may be seen as decisive. If successful, she would follow the footsteps of Roderick Galdes who used the local council as a platform to enter parliament.

Another possible candidate would be current MEP hopeful Mario Farrugia Borg. Hailing from Qormi, Farrugia Borg is very appreciated by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and is known as a very loyal person.

Farrugia Borg was also very close to Coleiro Preca, and this could be seen as an advantage to gather support of canvassers and voters who during the years only vouched for Malta’s new president.

Read more in today’s issue of Illum.