Jenny Pullicino Orlando, Marlene Farrugia’s daughter, who works at the Permanent Representation of Malta to the European Union, has expressed her pride after the news that her mother was elected to Parliament on the Partit Demokratiku ticket.

“I could not be more proud - not just because I am her daughter, but because I am a woman,” she wrote in a heartfelt post on Facebook.

“Many glass ceilings have been shattered today. I could not be more grateful for every vote, every effort, all the belief that has been entrusted in her. You have shown our grandchildren, our grand-daughters, that all that is possible is within reach and that we should stop at nothing to fight for it.”

“The PD is not divisive - how can it be? It was created to challenge the divisiveness of partisan politics that has crippled our country,” she went on to say.

“For those who genuinely believe that Dr Marlene Farrugia is a proponent of hate, you very clearly do not know my mother. She has taught us, her children, to love everyone equally, love until you cannot love anymore, to love and give even those who hate you.”

“Women, Malta take note because change is here. It is not only knocking at the door - the door is wide open. Ma, you are unbelievable,” she concluded.

Ms Pullicino Orlando’s father, Labour candidate Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, was not elected, in District 7. Pullicino Orlando is a former Nationalist MP who switched to Labour, but unlike his former wife he was not shown the same support by the voters.

Dr Marlene Farrugia, Leader of the Democratic Party, was elected on the 10th district earlier today. It is the first time since Independence that a third party was elected to Parliament. In 1989, Wenzu Mintoff switched from representing Labour to be the voice of the then newly-formed Alternattiva Demokratika, but he had been elected on Labour’s ticket.