Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1531292
MYSTERY surrounds claims that veteran Gozo National- ist MP Chris Said will not be contesting the next general election, with the MP himself refusing to confirm or deny the media eports. On Saturday, The Malta In- dependent reported that Said announced he will not run in the next election, while ad- dressing a PN activitity at the PN club in Sannat. But when contacted by this newspaper, the PN MP re- fused to confirm his inten- tions. "I do not know why The Independent reported what it did," he told GozoToday. "When I make a decision on my future, I will make it pub- lic myself." Said said that the next elec- tion was still two years away and that he was focusing on continuing his work within the party and his constitu- ency. Said was elected to parlia- ment in 2008 and he went on to serve as Parliamentary Secretary and later as Minis- ter of Justice. He recently said that the Ministry for Gozo should be retained but proposed an ad-hoc council for Gozo with executive powers which would function as the prin- cipal decision-maker of the island. He made it clear that this power-sharing proposal was strictly his, and not the par- ty's. Political career Chris Said, a lawyer by pro- fession, was born on 10 July in 1970 in Nadur, Gozo He was a mayor of his home town, Nadur. His brothers Charles and Edward also oc- cupied the position. Said was first elected to parliament in 2008, when was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Public Dialogue and Information in the Of- fice of the Prime Minister by Lawrence Gonzi. In Spectember 2010, he resigned his post following accusations of perjury. A month later, his name was cleared of all accusations In January 2012, follow- ing the resignation of Carm Mifsud Bonnici, Said was ap- pointed Minister for Justice, Dialogue and the Family. After the PN lost the 2013 elections, Said was elected party Secretary General, a post he did not contest again in 2015 - at the behest of par- ty leader Simon Busttil - in order to focus on Gozo for the upcoming election. After the party's defeat in the 2017 general election, Said contested the leader- ship election and ended in second place behin Adri- an Delia, who later select- ed him to shadow the Gozo and Constitutional Reforms portfolios. SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL FRIDAY 10 JANUARY 2025 • ISSUE 028 • PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY gozotoday PAUL COCKS pcocks@mediatoday.com.mt €1.00 Will Chris Said really not contest next election? MP mum on political future Chris Said was first elected to parliament in 2008