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Updated at 7:30 p.m. with co-option approval
Oliver Scicluna’s co-option to parliament on the government benches will be discussed later today by the Labour Party’s parliamentary group, Robert Abela has confirmed.
The Labour leader will also bring up the co-option for discussion in the party executive.
“The co-option will be discussed in the Labour parliamentary group today and the executive, although I am not obliged to do so,” Abela said when asked about the surprise move that saw former minister Gavin Gulia resign from MP just 24 hours after winning a casual election.
He insisted that Scicluna’s nomination would strengthen diversity in parliament.
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.