Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1514108
13 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 JANUARY 2024 EWROPEJ These include returning candidate Peter Agius, a former director of the European Parliament office in Malta, and today a civil servant at the European Council in Brussels. A lawyer by profession, his Eu- ropean expertise has allowed him to re- main active on many domestic issues he has lobbied on with the European Com- mission by way of representations that brought to the fore Maltese experiences or complaints. He is increasingly associ- ated with the Maltese agricultural com- munity, whose problems and challenges he often highlights, and this will be his second political outing in the European elections. In 2019 he obtained over 10,400 votes, the fourth-highest number for the PN. He might yet be pipped by the sheer force of the donkey-vote by David Agius, the Nationalist MP and former deputy party leader, who is now top of the PN ballot sheet by virtue of his initials. But Agius has considerable political experi- ence, a long history within the party as a former Net TV news anchor, and will be expected to employ a forceful campaign strategy to either eat away at Casa's vote count or clinch the third seat the PN is aiming for in 2024. The younger newcomers to the PN's Eu- ropean line-up will include Miriana Calle- ja Testaferrata de Noto, who resigned as president of the PN's youth wing MŻPN. Testaferrata is also a lawyer, who has been active in student politics with the European Studies Organizations ESO. Two interesting additions to the PN's line-up are speech-language pathologist Norma Camilleri, who serves as CEO of the Malta Federation of Professional As- sociations. She is active within her sector and represents both the European Speech and Language Therapy Association and local Association of Speech-Language Pathologists as president. Camilleri al- so works with social partners within the MCESD, as a civil society representative within the health, ageing and pensioners' sector. She is a musician by training. Another lawyer, LouiseAnne Pulis, completes the PN's line-up. Graduated with a Masters in Human Rights with a specialisation in democratic systems and demography, she has focused her practice on justice for vulnerable members of so- ciety, as a member of her family lives with autism. Third party fight Returning to contest the European elec- tions – his fifth such outing – will be in- dependent candidate Arnold Cassola. A former founder and chairperson of the Maltese green party, he split from Alter- nattiva Demokratika in 2019 in protest at fellow candidate Mina Tolu's call for a debate on abortion. Since then, Cas- sola has been active as a self-styled citi- zens' watchdog: in 2004, as AD candidate riding high on the wave of EU accession support, he garnered over 23,000 votes; in 2019, he got 2,127 first-count votes. ADPD this time around will see par- ty leader Sandra Gauci, Mina Tolu, and longtime secretary-general Ralph Cassar contesting. The party in 2019 got just 1,867 first-count votes, spurned in part by Cassola's hasty departure. ADPD were also pipped to the 'third party' place by the surprise success of Partit Demokra- tiku candidate Cami Appelgren, whose over 3,000 first-count votes embarrassed then PD leader (and former Labour min- ister) Godfrey Farrugia, who garnered only 1,660 votes. Now that ADPD have merged, the Green Party will hope it can recapture some of those lost votes. But they will have to contend with the reality of far-right firebrand Norman Lowell, a Holocaust denier who in 2019 got over 8,330 first-count votes. Lowell has secured himself a role as a conven- ient, anti-immigrant baiter who collects protest votes with his calling card of hate: with no government at stake during the European elections, Labour and Nation- alist voters who feel alienated in this mid- term election park their votes with the far-right as a way of 'punishing' hubristic party behaviours. It is yet to be seen whether mainstream party talk on foreign workers in Malta, and allegations of "infrastructural pres- sures" brought by the recruitment of non- EU nationals, often serving in lowly or minimum wage jobs, will send more votes to the far-right. For Bernard Grech's PN, the strategy might be fraught with risk. contractor's partner inside Labour MEP line-up Peter Agius Peter Agius Mi Miriana Calleja Testaferrata de Noto riana Calleja Testaferrata de Noto Norma Camilleri Norma Camilleri Arnold Cassola Arnold Cassola Sandra Gauci Sandra Gauci Ralph Cassar Ralph Cassar Mi Mina Jack Tolu na Jack Tolu Norman Lowell Norman Lowell This article forms part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. These articles reflect only the authors' views. The action was co-financed by the European Union in the frame of the European Parliament's grant programme in the field of communication. The European Parliament was not involved in its preparation and is, in no case, responsible for or bound by the information or opinions expressed in the context of this action. In accordance with applicable law, the authors, interviewed people, publishers or programme broadcasters are solely responsible. The European Parliament can also not be held liable for direct or indirect damage that may result from the implementation of the action.