Former Labour Party MP and Parliamentary Secretary Silvio Parnis has died, the Labour Party announced on Tuesday.

Parnis was 57 years old.

In a statement, the Labour Party said that throughout a career in politics and broadcasting, Parnis had always served the citizen and held the practical values of social justice and of helping those most in need.

Parnis served as an MP from 1998 to 2022 representing the fourth electoral district having first served as the mayor of his hometown Paola.

He served as Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government and Communities after the 2017 general election, and was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Active Ageing and Persons with Disability in Robert Abela’s first Cabinet in January 2020.

The Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting situation inside government elderly homes put Parnis and his leadership under the spotlight, and he subsequently lost his place in Cabinet on 23 November 2020.

Soon after he told those close to him that he would not be recontesting his seat in Parliament at the next general election, something he reconfirmed as the March 2022 polling date approached.

The Labour Party said that Parnis would be remembered as a politician with a good heart and who was always close to the people, adding that he was a socialist at heart and believed that one should always keep one’s feet on the ground and listen to the needs of the citizen.

The party also praised Parnis’ contribution to its broadcasting station ONE, saying that he had used transmissions to inform and help those who were passing through certain difficulties.

Parnis was admitted to hospital on Tuesday night, with Gzira mayor Conrad Borg Manche telling his followers that Parnis needed prayers as his health had deteriorated. Many of his former colleagues followed suit in their well wishes.

He had continued to share snippets from his life on his Facebook page, where over 17,000 followed him, with his last post being on Christmas Day where he sent his and his family’s well wishes for the festive season.

“This is the most beautiful day of the year for me, as besides remembering the birth of Jesus Christ, this day brings with it unity and love,” he wrote.

“Love you always, Silvio,” his message ended.

Parnis leaves to mourn his loss his wife, Dorianne, and his son, Jacob.

Prime Minister Robert Abela led the tributes on social media, saying that Malta had lost “a person of the people”, stating that Parnis always spoke about what the people needed and what one can do to improve the lives of those who can bear the least.

Former ONE chairperson Jason Micallef also paid tribute: "Our dear friend is now resting. No more suffering, suffering which he passed through enough of. I will not remove you from in front of my eyes from when I came to see you for the last time yesterday and you manage to speak to me Silv. I was astonished at what you told me in the presence of your dear mother, wife, and another colleague who was there for you so much in the past months," he wrote.

Micallef said he would not forget the 25 years of friendship between them, and said that the many thousands of people who he had personally helped, sometimes in silence, today suffered a major loss.

Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that he was afraid he would not be able to see Parnis before he died as he and his family were abroad, but said that at the same time when they did reach his bedside they did not know that it would only be a few minutes before he would pass away.

He said that Parnis was a people of the people and that this is the reason why he always held respect for him. "You used to tell me what you thought without hiding anything and you use to give me the pulse of the people, irrespective of whether it's good or bad."

"Everybody knows how much good you did with ordinary, everyday people. Almost like a missionary. Some will tell you that it is clientelism.  None of that. You were there for those who didn't even have a family to help them in the everyday things. There were those who lambasted you for it, but the people always gave them an answer," Muscat said.

In a statement, the Nationalist Party also commemorated Parnis' memory, saying that during his political career he had always worked in his own way in favour of social justice and in favour of those who were most in need.  The party said that it was work which was appreciated by the electorate which, one election after another, had given him their faith.

Former PN MP Jason Azzopardi, who is also from Paola, shared a particularly poignant tribute, saying that he had been next to Parnis some minutes before he passed away.

“My mind isn’t clear at the moment and my heart is broken. We were raised together. MUSEUM and football together.  You were with me when my mother died when I was 15. We went abroad together. We laughed together. We cried together.  God alone knows how much good he did in silence,”Azzopardi wrote.

“A genuine Labourite, who genuinely loved those in need.  Genuinely devoted to the worker. A genuine friend to the poor. A loyal and ideal husband and father.  Paola has lost one of its greatest sons.”

Parliamentary Speaker Anglu Farrugia in a statement also expressed his sorrow at Parnis' death and his condolences to his family and loved ones.

Countless other MPs from both sides of the House followed in their tributes for Parnis on social media.