The casual elections held to fill the places vacated by the candidates who were elected on two districts brought to an end the process to fill up all parliamentary seats. The 69 MPs who will sit on either side of the House of Representatives as from 10 May are now known.

The Nationalist Party will have a one-seat majority thanks to the constitutional amendment that allows the addition of a number of seats that gives the party obtaining the highest number of votes the chance to make up for the deficit in the number of seats gained. This adjustment has increased the number of MPs from the normal 65 to 69.

The casual elections held last Thursday allowed two ministers in the past legislature, Michael Frendo and Censu Galea, to make it through to Parliament in their last available chance. This was more or less expected.

Like foreign ministers before him, Dr Frendo’s regular commitments abroad worked against him when it came to staying close to his constituents. Both he and Mr Galea have obviously not found their place on the Cabinet, but their experience will be handy for the Nationalist Party, and they could also play leading roles in parliamentary committees that will be set up once the House resumes its business.

What was less expected – because he himself had expressed little hope of making it – was the election of Labour’s Gavin Gulia, who made it through on the sixth district vacated by MLP deputy leader Charles Mangion.

After failing to get elected on what he considered as his better option, the seventh district, where he did most of his work, Dr Gulia had initially said that he would not be contesting the casual elections as he felt he had little chance. But, “in respect to his constituents”, he later changed his mind and put forward his nomination, and was rewarded as he narrowly beat Saviour Schembri to the post.

The non-election of Dr Gulia had been considered as a big loss for Labour, as he is held in high esteem on either side of the political fence and is considered to be one of the more moderate politicians who serve to give the party a better image. This has now been made up for.

The casual elections also served to elect another four MPs who will be making their debut in Parliament in this legislature. Owen Bonnici for the MLP, and Stephen Spiteri, Philip Mifsud and Charlò Bonnici were elected for the first time, bringing the total number of new MPs to 12, shared equally by the two sides of the House.

It is positive that there has been a substantial change in the parliamentary set-up, and the presence of these new MPs, most of them still quite young, will hopefully bring in a new lease of life to parliamentary sittings. The fact that nearly one out of every five MPs is a new face in Parliament brings with it a kind of renewal that is almost always benevolent to such an institution.

These new MPs must use the enthusiasm of a new role to bring about a different, fresh approach. They must use their time well, not only to defend the interests of their party and constituents, but also to gain the necessary experience for them to hope for a more important post in successive legislatures.

They must however not fall into the trap that some of their colleagues have fallen into in the past – they should learn to keep their speeches as short and to the point as possible, as this will generate more interest in parliamentary sittings and keep the momentum going.