Gavin Gulia’s election to parliament and his resignation from the House minutes after being sworn in were not pre-arranged, according to Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, who came a close second in Tuesday s casual election.
“I have my reasons to believe that it was not pre-arranged. Having said that, I am not privy to the discussions held between my old friend Gavin and Prime Minister Abela,” Pullicino Orlando told Times of Malta.
Guliaresigned from parliament on Wednesday afternoon, moments after being sworn in, a move described by the Nationalist Party as manipulative and contemptuous of parliament.
Gulia in a brief statement said the prime minister had asked him to stay on as chairman of the Malta Tourism Authority, something not possible if he is an MP.
‘Don’t call me or send people to my house’, Charles Azzopardi tells Prime Minister
Casual election candidate Charles Azzopardi says Gavin Gulia’s resignation from parliament seconds after taking his oath represents ‘death to country’s democracy’
13 January 2021, 6:24pm
by Karl Azzopardi
Seventh district casual election candidate Charles Azzopardi has told the Prime Minister not to call him or send people to his house, following Gavin Gulia’s resignation from MP on Wednesday.
In a bizarre move, Gavin Gulia resigned from parliament seconds after being sworn in. He won a casual election for the 7th District seat vacated by Edward Scicluna after obtaining 2,216 votes in a runoff with Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando.
Updated 6.20pm
Gavin Gulia resigned from parliament on Wednesday afternoon, minutes after being sworn in after winning a casual election.
The Labour MP in a brief statement said that the prime minister had asked him to stay on as chairman of the Malta Tourism Authority in view of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 situation. He was also needed to pilot the authority s 2020 strategic plan.
He was therefore resigning from the House.
His departure means that the government is now free to choose anyone to fill the vacant seat, by co-option.
More than an hour after Gulia s statement in the House, the Tourism Ministry issued a two-line statement stating that Gulia had resigned his post as MTA chairman earlier on Wednesday, before being sworn in as MP.
Disability commission chair Oliver Scicluna is to be co-opted Labour MP instead of Gavin Gulia who resigned suddenly this afternoon.
Scicluna, 34, was born with spina bifida and has occupied the role of commissioner for rights of persons with a disability since 2016.
Scicluna has no known prior involvement in party politics.
The Labour Party rumour mill had the mayor of Haż-Żebbuġ, Malcolm Paul Galea, and Gozitan surgeon Jo Etienne Abela, as front runners for a possible co-option.
The names surface after the resignation of Gavin Gulia, a mere 24 hours since he was returned to the House in a casual election prompted by the resignation of longtime finance minister Edward Scicluna.
Gavin Gulia has won the casual election for the 7th District seat vacated by Edward Scicluna after obtaining 2,216 votes in a runoff with Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando.
At the final count Gulia obtained 466 more votes than Pullicino Orlando. The other candidate vying for the seat, Charles Azzopardi, was the first to be eliminated.
In his first comments on his return back to parliament, Gulia said he will be resigning from the post of chairperson at the Malta Tourism Authority.
On the first count Azzopardi inherited 1,028 votes. He was eliminated. Gavin Gulia inherited 1,486 votes, while Pullicino Orlando received 1,479 votes, taking the casual election down to the wire.