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YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT maltatoday Newspaper post 15 14 Gung-ho for the Gozo tunnel! Part 1 from our series on the European Parliament Mercury in Malta's seas exceeds EU parameters Mercury rising Businessman Euchar Vella is confident that subsea travel to Gozo will happen Mercury in Malta's seas exceeds EU parameters Mercury rising 3 Busuttil told Abela to make way for Giglio SAVIOUR BALZAN NATIONALIST Party leader Si- mon Busuttil met with former parliamentary secretary Tony Abela, in a bid to convince him not to stand in the casual elec- tion for the seat vacated by MP Joe Cassar, MaltaToday can re- veal. The Opposition leader met Abela at the PN headquarters, where he told him in no uncer- tain terms of his wish to have "a new face" in the parliamentary group. Two senior sources in the PN group told this newspaper that Abela actually suggested his son – Sam Abela – whom he de- scribed as "a popular notary in Rabat" who would make the cut. Busuttil continued to in- sist with Abela that the party needed a fresh face – a suggestion which did not sit well with the notary. In fact, even deputy lead- er Beppe Fenech Adami made an attempt to convince Abela at a chance meeting in Rabat. Busuttil was hopeful that by having no candidates put their name forward for the casual election, he could co-opt top criminal defence lawyer Joe Giglio to parliament. His wish was also communicated to other candidates. Giglio is a rising star in Busut- til's new political line-up. He has been active in PN policy fora on home affairs and justice reforms. And he also replaced Frank Psai- la as presenter on NET TV's pop- ular current affairs programme Iswed fuq l-Abjad when Psaila migrated to Newsfeed, to replace Norman Vella as presenter. MaltaToday was told that Bu- suttil was effectively concerned that after Cassar's resignation, the casual election would see former parliamentary secretary Tony Abela elected to parlia- ment again. As junior minister in charge of defence between 2003 and 2008, Abela was considered a PR nightmare in Lawrence Gonzi's government. Abela won 1,978 votes in the run-off at the fourth count, without making the quota of 2,038 votes, but remain- ing the last man standing and beating former MP Philip Mifsud, who got 1,892 votes. Malta track could host MotoGP and Formula 1 testing JURGEN BALZAN LEWIS Hamilton and Valentino Rossi could become regular visitors to Malta if plans to construct a motorsport rac- ing track in Malta come to fruition. Three British motorsport experts were in Malta this week on a fact- finding mission to help them decide whether to submit a bid to construct and operate a racing track in a yet un- known location. The prospective bidders spoke to MaltaToday and said that the track could host MotoGP races and possibly Formula 1 testing sessions. In September, an international ex- pression of interest for the design, construction and operation of a mo- tor recreation and education park was launched by sports parliamentary secretary Chris Agius and this has at- tracted interest from around the globe. Applications must be submitted by 20 January, 2016. One of the interested parties is UK- based Totally Motorsport, who were in Malta to hold high-level meetings and visit possible sites. "We can't say very much at the mo- ment as we are bound by a confidenti- ality agreement, however, what we can say is that the opportunity for Malta to have a world class motorsport facility will attract interest and tourism from around the globe," Graeme Glew told MaltaToday. PAGE 4 British motorsport specialists' fact-finding mission mulling bid for construction and operation of €100 million racing track in Malta Gonzi's government. Abela won 1,978 votes in the run-off at the fourth count, without making the quota of 2,038 votes, but remain- ing the last man standing and beating former MP Philip Mifsud, who got 1,892 votes. Abela won 1,978 votes in the run-off at the fourth count, without making the quota of 2,038 votes, but remain- ing the last man standing and beating former MP Philip Mifsud, who got 1,892 votes. PAGE 4 'New face' versus old guard: Joe Giglio (left) was tipped for co-option but Tony Abela was having none of it SUNDAY • 22 NOVEMBER 2015 • ISSUE 837 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY €1.40 17 16 Digital rights and the new privacy frontier