Now that the boxes have been opened and the votes counted over a cripplingly tedious three days, The Malta Independent caught up with the five MEPs who have secured a seat in the Brussels parliament. We caught up with Simon Busuttil, David Casa, Louis Grech, Edward Scicluna and John Attard Montalto to ask them a few questions. We also tried to catch up with Joseph Cuschieri who will join as an observer until the Lisbon Treaty is implemented and he takes his seat, but we could not get hold of him.

1. Did you expect to be elected?

2. What do you think about the vote counting system – is it time to go electronic?

3. What do you think about the lack of female Maltese MEPs in the EP?

4. How do you see yourself working with the rest of the Maltese MEPs?

5. And finally, which issues will you be attacking in the European Parliament?

Simon Busuttil

I would not be honest if I were to tell you that I was not expecting to be elected. What I was not expecting is the number of votes I garnered.

Although I think that the voting system is good, the counting system is rather pedantic and slow. I believe it should be revised and modernised urgently. It is unacceptable that vote counting takes three days.

It is disappointing that female MEPs were not elected even though it is consoling that we were quite close to doing so. In fact, the last three MEPs who got eliminated were all women.

On last week’s Xarabank I suggested that all the Maltese MEPs should meet at least once a month prior to the Strasbourg plenary to discuss our position on issues that affect Malta. In the past five years I worked well with Louis Grech and John Attard Montaldo and I am sure that I will work well with Edward Scicluna, who is a very competent person. I am delighted that they were elected.

The PN manifesto for the MEP election was quite clear. We shall focus on work, solidarity in terms of irregular migration, the environment and values.

David Casa

I believe that in the past five years I served as best I could in the interest of the Maltese people and with the promise of continuity backed by credentials and experience I did believe that the people would re-elect me. The current vote counting system is sustaining us but in view of the fact that Malta was one of the last countries to finalise counting, there is room for improvement, whether it is by electronic means or other.

The electorate was given a clear choice to choose its representatives, while believing that we need more female participation on all fronts, not least as a representative in the EP.

A structure must be set up, through which MEPs from both sides can work in unison in the national interest. This is something that we had done in the beginning of the last legislature, but was not sustained throughout. As I have done in the past, I will work with MEPs from both sides as long as the national interest comes first.

I will continue working on issues I have addressed in the past five years, such as economic and monetary affairs, the environment and on social policy.

Louis Grech

All those first preference votes were a nice surprise, even though I knew I had a reasonable chance of being re-elected. I will work to translate people’s vote of confidence in more work to improve their quality of life.

The voting system is pedantic and we should definitely look into ways of reforming it, particularly by looking at Estonia’s electronic system.

Without discrediting any of the elected MEPs, it is unfortunate, and this can be seen on a number of levels, not just in the EP that we do not have a woman among us. Malta has one of the worst records in this regard, and the issue needs to be tackled in real terms. We can no longer simply continue to pay lip service to resolve the issue.

I will definitely work with the PN MEPs as I have done before, as long as they do not define what should be the national interest in a gospel-like manner.

Irregular migration, consumer protection, EU funds and the global recession are issues which we will be tackling. My allegiance lies with Malta, then PL and PES on the same level.

Edward Scicluna

I would not have gone into such an arduous campaign covering 13 districts if I did not have the comfort of support from a broad spectrum of the Maltese and Gozitan population. Of course this did not mean having any guarantees of success but then that depends on your inner strength to stick through it and ready to pass through thick and thin.

Our electoral system is archaic to say the least. I myself was an electoral commissioner and have always likened it to a traditional festa where the ritual becomes an untouchable sacred cow. The population is not prepared for a complete electronic system. We can keep our beloved ballot paper but the data entry and compilation can be entered and compiled the same way all our finances are kept by the banking system.

What a big shame. As a male person I feel guilty for the failure of our system to come up with a fair gender mix of elected MEPs.

I have worked under various administrations and have never had problems working with fellow colleagues from both sides of the political spectrum. I have always emphasised during the campaign that the divisions between the past crop of MEPs was overdone for the sake of the campaign only.

I am looking forward to working closely with Simon and David for Malta and Gozo’s sake, as much as I do with Louis, John and Joseph.

We will tackle all the issues raised by the European Parliament with special attention to those which concern our country’s welfare.

John Attard Montaldo

I honestly hoped to be elected. It would have been positive if there were female MEPs representing Malta. I think that as Maltese MEPs, we have to integrate more in the coming five years to increase collective achievements in favour of our nation. We must really make an effort not to be bi-partisan.

Our loyalty should be to Malta first and then to our parties. The most important issue that needs to be addressed urgently is irregular migration.

Secondly we have to try and find ways and means to bring down the utility rates. I will be working towards establishing a minimum and maximum standard rate on a European level.

The idea of having a unified basis for energy tariffs has already been discussed in the committee of industry, energy and research of which I was a member in the past five years.

Another issue that must be addressed in one way or another is the issue of hunting and trapping in Malta.

I also believe that the operators of public transport were given a raw deal.

It is important that this is brought up before the committee of transport and tourism of the EU.