One of the PL’s major success stories of this election campaign, Azzopardi Tanti is an accountant with a long history of activism within the Labour Party.

He started off as a customer care volunteer when he was still a teenager and Joseph Muscat was Opposition Leader. At a recent campaign rally, Muscat praised Azzopardi Tanti for putting in the hours at a time when “no one wanted to have anything to do” with the PL and for volunteering with the party instead of going out and enjoying himself.

He was elected Pieta’ mayor in 2013, re-elected six years later, and has been active on the ground, attending an anti-immigration rally in Ħamrun in 2020 to hear residents out ahead of the general election.

Chris Bonett

A lawyer by trade, Bonett has been particularly active in the local sports sector, particularly football. He spent several years at the Malta Football Association, first as head of its legal department and then as its vice-president.

He spent a few months working with UEFA as an integrity officer before returning to Malta to become a senior consultant to the Parliamentary Secretary for Sport and, for a while, acting CEO of SportMalta.

Bonett contested the MFA presidency in 2019 but lost out to Bjorn Vassallo.

Alison Zerafa Civelli

A teacher by profession, Zerafa Civelli has quite a bit of political experience, saving as a Bormla councillor since 2009 and mayor since 2013.

Zerafa Civelli has served on a number of boards of state-run or state-owned entities, including the Cottonera Foundation, Enemed, Transport Malta and Infrastructure Malta, where she currently serves as deputy chairperson.

Her sister Lydia Abela is the wife of Prime Minister Robert Abela, who like her, contested the second district this election.

Last year, she ignored a directive by the Malta Teachers’ Union to strike in protest at schools remaining open despite a rise of COVID-19 cases, warning that her experience as a teacher and a mother has shown her that online learning isn’t a proper alternative for younger children.

Jo Etienne Abela

A Gozitan consultant surgeon specialised in upper gastrointestinal and pancreatic operations, Abela is a newcomer to politics. 

In fact, he only gave his first political speech last year at an activity to commemorate the PL’s 100th anniversary.

He was once rumoured as a potential candidate for co-option into the PL’s parliamentary group in recent years but this never materialised. Late last year, he cancelled all his political Christmas activities due to a spike in COVID-19 cases, even though the government hadn’t introduced fresh restrictions.

“The numbers are what they are and COVID-19 cannot be ignored, especially not by people in the medical field,” he explained back then. “I apologise for this and promise that we’ll meet again in a more serene manner. Health comes before votes for me.”

What do you think of these four new MPs?