Graziella Galea has been officially co-opted to Parliament after she was approved by the Nationalist Party to replace the seat vacated by David Thake.

Her nomination was approved unanimously by the PN's Executive Committee and she was sworn in on Monday.

Galea replaced David Thake, who resigned in the wake of a VAT scandal. Recent revelations have shown that Thake's companies Vanilla Telecoms and MaltaShopper LTD owe around €270,000 and €550,000 in VAT arrears respectively. Thake stated that a big portion of the VAT owed through his companies was part of the Covid-19 VAT deferral scheme.

In her brief introductory speech in Parliament, Galea said that she is honoured to be holding such a position and thanked all those who supported her throughout her journey.

Galea resigned from her post as minority leader of the St Paul's Bay local council.