After a few days of party infighting, Jean Pierre Debono has been selected to take the vacated seat of MP David Stellini in what could be seen as an internal victory for embattled Leader PN Adrian Delia.

Debono is seen as a firm Delia-loyalist, who had actually given up his own seat so that Delia could enter parliament.

However, there were a number of calls of other party factions to ensure that a Gozitan MP would take Stellini’s spot, who was elected on the 13th district on casual election.

It is believed that Debono won by a small margin in a secret vote.

Kevin Cutajar put forward his name after key figures took to Facebook to announce their support. In a post, Cutajar stressed the importance of replacing Stellini with a Gozitan MP.

In the hotly-contested district of Gozo, sources have also said that losing an MP could be a massive detriment come the next general election.

As it stands, Delia is facing growing pressure after two electoral drubbings in the space of a week. He has insisted that he will not call a confidence vote, but it remains to be seen what will happen over the next week or so.

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Julian Bonnici

Julian is the former editor of Lovin Malta and has a particular interest in politics, the environment, social issues, and human interest stories.