Manuel Mallia's parliamentary seat will need to be filled through a co-option procedure and not through a casual election.
Mallia resigned from Parliament on Tuesday as he is set to be appointed as Malta's High Commissioner to London.
The reason no casual election can take place is because Mallia himself had been elected to Parliament through a casual election for a seat vacated by PL MP Michael Falzon on the 9th district. And so a casual election for Mallia's seat cannot take place.
Mallia's replacement will join a number of MPs who were co-opted recently, including Miriam Dalli, Oliver Scicluna and Clyde Caruana.
This will see the rejuvenation process within the Labour Party continue to take place, as more new faces will come into politics.