Marlene Farrugia eyeing fifth and seventh districts

Marlene Farrugia wants to contest the forthcoming election in the fifth and seventh electoral districts, setting up a possible competition for votes against her partner and current Labour whip Godfrey Farrugia.

Farrugia announced her intent in an interview with Saviour Balzan on TVM’s Xtra which will be aired tomorrow Thursday.

The former Labour MP, whose Democratic Party will be contesting the general election under the PN banner, said she wants to contest the fifth and seventh districts, but pointed out that this had not yet been confirmed given that talks with the PN are yet to be concluded.

In 2013, Farrugia was elected as a Labour MP on the fifth district with 2,525 first count votes. She had also contested the sixth district but only managed to earn 358 votes.

Now the outspoken Farrugia is eyeing the seventh district, which includes Zebbug, where the MP has a dental clinic and previously served as a PN councillor in the 1990s.

It is also the district which elected her partner and current Labour whip Godfrey Farrugia. Attempts to contact Godfrey Farrugia to establish whether he intends to seek re-election and possibly run against his partner were not successful. 

After militating in Labour, Marlene Farrugia’s first formal foray in the political scene came in 1996, when she stood as a candidate for the Nationalist Party in the local council elections and was successfully elected, serving as a councillor between 1996 and 1999.

 She subsequently stood for the 1998 General Elections on the Nationalist Party ticket when she gained 311 first count votes from the fifth electoral district and was not elected. She had also contested the seventh district and obtained a meagre 355 votes.

Farrugia then crossed the Rubicon and contested the 2008 elections on behalf of the Labour Party and was elected from the fifth electoral district with a total of 3,375 first-count votes. She was re-elected from the same electoral district in 2013, garnering 2,525 first-count votes.

On Thursday’s Xtra, the MP will defend the newly-formed Democratic Party’s pact with the PN, saying that although an agreement has been reached, the two sides were still engaged in talks over the finer details of the deal, including a common electoral programme.

While admitting that the deal could fall through if no agreement is reached on the common programme, Farrugia said there was broad agreement on good governance, environmental protection, social justice, a sustainable economy “which works for everyone” and electoral reform.