Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/829524
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 MAY 2017 3 News PAUL COCKS FORGET hampers of canned food, bottles of wine or plastic bags filled with oranges from your favourite district candidate. Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, execu- tive chairman of the Malta Council for Science and Technology and the Esplora Science Centre – and who is contesting the 3 June election on the Labour Party ticket – is offering his constituents discounted entry to the interactive centre in Kalkara, which he says he will be subsidising the difference out of pocket. In an SMS sent to residents of the seventh district – Zebbug, Dingli, Mgarr, Mtarfa and Rabat – Pul- licino Orlando told his constitu- ents that if they visit the Esplora Interactive Science Centre today and show the original SMS, adults would only pay €3 for entry, while children would not pay anything. The former Nationalist MP fell out with the PN in 2012 when he resigned from the party. Originally a bête noire of Labour under Al- fred Sant during the 2008 electoral campaign, in 2013 he was openly supporting Joseph Muscat. Now, as various Labour candi- dates outdo each other in gifts to their potential voters, Pullicino Orlando appears to be using his in- fluence as MCAST chairman to of- fer discounts at the science centre public attraction. Normal ticket prices at Esplora are €6 for adults and €3 for chil- dren aged 5 to 11. Children under five years of age enter for free. In a staged telephone call to Es- plora to verify that the offer was part of Pullicino Orlando's elec- toral campaign activities, MaltaTo- day confirmed that only recipients of the message and their children could pay the discounted prices. The person who took the call on the centre's 25401900 enquiries number explained that only people in possession of the SMS could be granted the discounted entry. Pullicino Orlando confirmed that this was an election gag he had or- ganised for his constituents. He told MaltaToday that he was not the only candidate to have or- ganised a political activity at Es- plora, though he would not name names. "I can confirm however that I will be paying the difference in ticket prices directly to Esplora myself," JPO said. "That is why the people at the counter will be keeping a re- cord of how many people present the original SMS at the door, so that I will be able to settle the dif- ference." Electoral Polling Ordinance rules prohibit the use of treating, the practice of using as well as receiv- ing food, drink or entertainment to "corruptly influence" someone's voting preference. It is common practice for elector- al candidates to host parties or get- togethers that are generally organ- ised by their campaigners, rather than by them personally. Fearne mulls PL deputy leader run HEALTH minister Chris Fearne is considering a run for Labour's forthcoming deputy leadership race after incumbent and deputy prime minister Louis Grech calls it a day, having announced he will not be contesting the 2017 elections. A close aide told MaltaToday that Fearne, 54, was "positive about the post after the elec- tion, and he is also considering his prospects beyond a five-year term." Fearne, a consultant paediatric surgeon, was elected to parlia- ment in 2013, the first time he ran for election. He was elected on the fourth district, where former energy minister Kon- rad Mizzi also ran. For a time, Fearne was parliamentary sec- retary for health when Mizzi was energy and health minister, before the latter was stripped of the portfolio in the aftermath of the Panama Papers revelations. The post of deputy leader for parliamentary affairs will be va- cated by Louis Grech, opening up a new race in the Labour lead- ership, which currently includes minister for the economy Chris Cardona as deputy leader for party affairs. "Fearne is seen as a promising politician with a no-nonsense approach by the prime minister," the aide who spoke to this news- paper said. Fearne's first foray into politics came in 2008 when he publicly endorsed Joseph Muscat in the leadership battle against George Abela. In 2013, he was elected on the fourth district with 300 first- count votes, inheriting enough votes from Joseph Muscat to get elected after Konrad Mizzi and Silvio Parnis. Fearne left his successful medi- cal career after being elected an MP, being appointed junior minister for health in the 2014 reshuffle, and then promoted to minister after the demotion of Konrad Mizzi to a minister with- out portfolio under Muscat's purview. As a student in the 1980s Fearne served as international secretary of the Labour youth organ Zghazagh Laburisti but faded away from the scene to fol- low his medical career, spending 25 years in paediatric surgeon. Fearne is running on the third and fourth districts, where Mus- cat is also running. Othr candi- dates on the fourth district in- clude Konrad Mizzi. Chris Fearne Election treats: MCST chairman offers voters Esplora discount Jefffrey Pullicino Orlando: offered voters a discount on visits to Esplora. He will be making up the difference in price THIS IS A PAID ADVERT