Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/823875
maltatoday, MONDAY, 15 MAY 2017 6 News ELECTION candidate nominations closed at the weekend, leaving 377 people in the running for a seat in Parliament and giving a clear picture of the parties' electoral strategies. The Nationalist Party will field a record 110 candidates across the 13 districts, including 11 from the f ledgling Democratic Party. Out of those, 61 – including every single PD candidate – will run on two districts, giving voters looking for a change of government a wide range of can- didates to pick from. Indeed, the PN has fielded more candidates than the Labour Party in every district except for the first and third, where the two parties are fielding an equal number of candidates, and in the fourth and the fifth, where Labour has more can- didates. The districts most swamped with PN candidates are two of the party's traditional strongholds – the ninth (20 candidates) and the tenth (21 candidates). The PN's candidate list also puts into perspective its leader Simon Bu- suttil's attempt to refresh the party. Indeed, the majority of his team (60%) have never contested an elec- tion before, and 20% of the candi- dates are under 35 years old. Yet Busuttil's new candidates have not come at the expense of sitting MPs, and indeed all of the current PN MPs – barring Tony Abela, Charlo Bonnici, Tonio Fenech, and Michael Gonzi – will be up for re-election. In contrast, the Labour Party will only be fielding 68 candidates in this election, out of whom fewer than half (29) are already sitting MPs. 40 of Labour's candidates will run on two districts, including 21 of its MPs. As with the PN, the districts with the highest number of PL candidates (14) are both Labour strongholds – in this case, the third and the fifth. However, unlike their rivals, Labour will head to the polls with relatively seasoned candidates; indeed only 29% of them have never contested an election before. Also, it has not put much trust in young candidates – with fewer than 15% of its candidates under 35 years old. Alternattiva Demokratika has only approved ten candidates, all of whom – expect for the young Marc Andrea Cassar – will contest on two dis- tricts. The new far-right Moviment Patri- jotti has approved 15 candidates, all of whom will contest on two dis- tricts. The new party appears to have chosen to concentrate on some dis- tricts more than others – fielding four candidates in the fourth district and three in the seventh, but only one 'Patriot' in the sixth and tenth districts. In an unprecedented move, the leader of Alleanza Bidla Ivan Grech Mintoff has managed to field himself in 12 electoral districts and the other two of his candidates in 11 districts – meaning that the electorate will have the option of voting for the small Eurosceptic party in all but the fifth district. The AB's election campaign also stands out for another reason – at 87 years old, candidate Saviour Xuereb is the oldest person to ever stand for a general election in Malta. Elsewhere, Joseph Aquilina will run as an independent candidate on the first and twelfth districts, while Za- ren Bonnici 'Tal-Ajkla' will run on the third and thirteenth districts. Where are all the women candidates? Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has Labour will head to the polls with relatively seasoned candidates; indeed only 29% of them have never contested an election before. Also, it has not put much trust in young candidates – with fewer than 15% of its candidates under 35 years old The PN's candidate list also puts into perspective its leader Simon Busuttil's attempt to refresh the party. Indeed, the majority of his team (60%) have never contested an election before, and 20% of the candidates are under 35 years old Five or perhaps six political parties, two independent candidates, young and old candidates, old faces and new faces and female participation is what Tim Diacono discusses in this feature on the 2017 election candidates All you need to know about the