Gavin Gulia has thrown his hat into the ring for what could well be a hotly contested casual election for the seat vacated by former Finance Minister Edward Scicluna.
Gulia submitted his nomination on Friday.
Currently the Malta Tourism Authority chairman, Gulia has served as an MP before, but failed in his bid for re-election in 2017, falling short of the amount of votes he needed in the 7th district.
The resignation of Edward Scicluna however has opened a seat in that district, giving him the chance to make it to Parliament’s green seats.
It will however be a hotly contested casual election: Gulia will definitely be up against former Rabat mayor Charles Azzopardi, who was barred from re-contesting for his Rabat local council seat in the 2019 elections by the PL, and who is now a PN member.
MCST Chairman and former PN MP turned PL candidate Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando is the only other person eligible to contest the casual election. He had told The Malta Independent that he would “certainly” contest, but has yet to submit his nomination.
Gulia obtained the most first-count votes in 2017, but had fallen behind Azzopardi by the time all the votes had been transferred according to numerical preference – perhaps an indication of the donkey voting phenomenon in Malta.
The casual election takes place on Tuesday.