Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1519882
7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 1 MAY 2024 EWROPEJ MATTHEW FARRUGIA mfarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt 39 candidates will feature in Mal- ta's longest-ever ballot sheet for the European elections on 9 June. Nominations closed on Monday evening, with a ballot sheet that now has the highest-ever number of independent candidates. Labour will field nine candidates – with just one incumbent, Alex Agius Saliba – and the Nationalist Party will field eight, with its two incumbents, European Parliament president Roberta Metsola, and David Casa. Former MEP Clau- dette Abela Baldacchino (PL) is also hoping to return to Brussels. Labour Party Alex Agius Saliba has been an MEP since 2019 and the only one of Labour's current crop of MEPs seeking re-election. The 36-year- old served as the European Parlia- ment's rapporteur for the Digital Service Act and was at the fore- front of the proposal of a common USB C-charging cable. Claudette Abela Baldacchino served as a Labour MEP between 2013 to 2014. A former One jour- nalist, Abela Baldacchino later represented Malta as a member of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) of the EU. In 2021, she was among several serving and former mayors and officials from a travel agency and the Local Councils As- sociation cleared of alleged fraud in the purchase of flight tickets that took place 11 years earlier. Daniel Attard is a former Mtar- fa mayor and lawyer by profession, who served as deputy High Com- missioner to the UK and was also a communications coordinator for former minister Evarist Bartolo. Clint Azzopardi Flores served at Malta House in Brussels for eight years, as a budget and econ- omy attaché in Malta's permanent representation office. His hus- band, Ray Azzopardi, is the former ambassador to Belgium. Thomas Bajada is Labour's on- ly Gozitan candidate, and works as the government's technical at- taché on fisheries at the Perma- nent Representation of Malta to the European Union. Jesmond Bonello was formerly president of the UĦM - Voice of the Workers union for nine years, and is currently director of regula- tory compliance at the Foundation for Social Welfare Services. Steve Ellul is a financial analyst and lecturer at the University of Malta, and was the first and now former CEO of Project Green. Jesmond Marshall is thesecre- tary of the metal and construction section of the General Workers' Union. Marija Sara Vella Gafa is mayor of Gudja and worked as a lawyer for the Lands Authority. She works at the Environment Ministry. Nationalist Party Roberta Metsola is European Parliament president, being elect- ed 2013 when she took over Simon Busuttil's vacant seat. Re-elected ever since, she has risen to the top in European politics, first as vice-president of the European Parliament in 2020 and then as President in 2022. David Casa is Malta's long- est-serving MEP, elected in Mal- ta's very first EP elections in 2004 and was elected one of the Europe- an Parliament's quaestors in 2019. David Agius is a serving MP who was formerly PN deputy lead- er and also serves as parliament's Deputy Speaker and shadow min- ister for social welfare. Peter Agius, in his second run for the Brussels seat, headed the Office of the EU Parliament in Malta also worked as speechwriter for former European Parliament president Antonio Tajani. Lee Bugeja Bartolo is a former Partit Demokratiku candidate, 33-year-old aerospace engineer Lee Bugeja Bartolo. He had been one of two PD candidates who attempted to block the election of former PN leader Adrian Delia to parliament through a casual elec- tion in late 2017. Miriana Calleja Testaferrata de Noto was formerly the president of youth wing MŻPN, and is a law- yer. Norma Camilleri is the PN's only Gozitan candidate, and is a speech-language pathologist who serves as CEO of the Malta Feder- ation of Professional Associations and as president of both the Euro- pean and Maltese associations for speech and language therapy. Louise Anne Pulis is a lawyer and this is her first foray into pol- itics. ADPD Ralph Cassar is a long-standing member of Attard's local council, and is now ADPD's secretary gen- eral. He has been on AD's list in every general election since 1996. Rachelle Deguara is a first- time candidate, making her name in Mlta's alternative scene as an artist, rapper (going by the stage name REA) and youth activist, as the co-chair of Alternattiva Demokratika's youth wing. Sandra Gauci is ADPD leader, the third woman in Malta's history to lead a political party. Mina Jack Tolu has campaigned for LGBTQI rights locally and as a committee member of the Eu- ropean Green Party. Tolu had al- ready run in the 2022 general elec- tion for ADPD. ABBA Ivan Grech Mintoff is leader of the Christian-conservative party ABBA. Antonia Gauci is standing as a pro-life candidate for ABBA. Volt Matthias Iannis Portelli joined Volt Malta and Volt Europa in 2020, serving in different roles including Policy Leading, and in December 2022, was elected as the vice-president of Volt Malta. Imperium Europa Norman Lowell is founder of the far-right IE, and in 2008 he was found guilty of inciting racial ha- tred and handed a suspended two- year jail term. He obtained over 8,000 first-count votes in 2019, making Imperium Europa Malta's third-largest party in that election. Terrence Portelli is a manager at Malta's Asset Recovery Bureau. Independent candidates: 13 candidates Noel Apap – an activist with far-right social media voices from Front Maltin Inqumu Malcolm Bezzina – a former PD candidate Nazareno Bonnici – Żaren Bon- nici 'tal-Ajkla', a mainstay of the bizarre independent outliers Conrad Borg Manché – former Labour Gżira mayor who fell out with his party over environmental issues Arnold Cassola – former Alter- nattiva Demokratika chairperson who left AD over disagreemnt on a pro-choice stand in 2019, had garnered 23,000 votes (9.3%) in the 2004 European elections Alexander D'Agata – former candidate for right-wing Partit Popolari Radu Gheorghe – former candi- date for Partit Abba George Grixti Stephen Florian – former general election andidate for Partit Popo- lari Simon Mercieca – history pro- fessor whose blog hosts prominent right-wing voices James Michael Muscat, aka James Ryder – comedian pledging a serious run for the Brussels seat Edwin Vassallo – former PN junior minister and former Mosta mayor representing traditionalists and conservative stances against equal marriage among other issues. Adrian Zammit – another social media personality who entertains followers with his livestreams from his Marsa household kitchen. Maltese voters have 39 candidates for Europe, 13 of whom are independents These articles are 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. This article reflects only the author's view. 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. From left: Roberta Metsola, Alex Agius Saliba, Sandra Gauci, Arnold Cassola and Conrad Borg Manche