Parliamentary representation will remain unchanged at 35 seats for the Nationalist Party and 30 for the Labour Party following last Saturday's general election.

But nearly a sixth of the MPs will be "new" especially on the government benches.

Results issued up to yesterday show that veteran former Speaker and Gozo Minister Anton Tabone has made a comeback after having failed to be elected in 1998.

So too did Joe Brincat, deputy leader of the Labour Party and a former minister, who was last in the House in 1996. He took the seat vacated by Joe Cilia, who did not seek re-election.

The new faces declared elected by yesterday afternoon were the President's son Mario de Marco, who replaced Nationalist MP Jean Pierre Farrugia on the first district, Stefan Buontempo, who replaced Labour MP Rita Law on the second, former Qormi mayor and broadcaster Clyde Puli, who replaced Parliamentary Secretary George Hyzler in the sixth district, and popular broadcaster David Agius who took over the seat held by Nationalist MP and deputy speaker Michael Bonnici in the seventh district.

Birkirkara mayor Tonio Fenech was elected from the eighth district after doing extremely well in the local council elections last month. The same happened in Sliema, where mayor Robert Arrigo was elected.

Michael Gonzi, brother of the deputy prime minister and a popular GP, was elected from the 12th district while in the 13th district, new candidate Justyne Caruana, a lawyer, took the seat vacated by Labour MP Carmelo Borg, who did not seek re-election.

The departure of Dr Hyzler means the Hyzler name will be missed in parliament for the first time since 1951, his predecessors having been Albert Hyzler and his father George Hyzler. Dr Hyzler had succeeded his father in a casual election in 1995.

Dr Hyzler, while disappointed, said yesterday his feelings were more sweet than bitter. "Our system pits us in a fight against friends and it is natural for one to be disappointed on not being elected, but the main issue was the election and the outcome of that one was very good," he said.

Mr Tabone, who served as Speaker for the past four years and had been elected uninterruptedly between 1966 and 1998 said: "It's a very good feeling to be re-elected. The decision to stand once more had not been easy but I felt it my duty to stand and to serve if the people so wished."

Mr Tabone has taken the seat held by Victor Galea Pace, elected in 1998.

Dr de Marco will be the second President's son in parliament, the other being Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, who held on to the PN's second seat on the second district. Dr de Marco said he was "overwhelmed and honoured" to have been elected. He said he could vouch to carry forward the de Marco name and the values and principles associated with it, including honesty, loyalty, correctness, hard work and respect to all constituents and the country.

Saturday's election was a particular success for Eddie Fenech Adami who achieved 20,471 first count votes from two districts, a record for any Maltese politician. He had held the record at 19,544 in 1998.

Dr Sant won 15,050 first preference votes (14,174 in 1998), although, it has to be said, the districts he contested, the first and the eighth, have Nationalist majorities.

Outgoing Foreign Minister Joe Borg was overwhelmingly elected from two districts, the ninth and the tenth, when to date he had only been elected from the ninth.

"I am delighted and very satisfied with the result," he said. He said his work over the past four-and-a-half years had been very demanding but the outcome of the general election, and the votes he won, showed that the people had appreciated the work done by all the team in negotiating with the EU, informing the people about the EU and how they had involved the constituted bodies in the process.

Outgoing Justice Minister Austin Gatt also did very well on the first district, being elected on the first count with 3,618 votes, more than double his first count votes in 1998.

On the second district, outgoing deputy prime minister Lawrence Gonzi was also a runaway winner, winning 3,646 votes.

The surprise, however, was Labour candidate Stefan Buontempo, well known for raising social housing issues. He won 3,038 first count votes from just 473 in 1998.

In contrast, former Labour minister Joe Mizzi saw his first count votes drop to 2,840 from 3,364 in 1998 and he was only the third Labour candidate to be elected, having topped the Labour list in 1998.

On the fourth district, Labour MP Silvio Parnis, well known for working closely among constituents, won 4,157 first count votes, from 2,259 in 1998. Much the same can be said for Labour MP Marie-Louise Coleiro, who won 4,439 votes on the sixth district from 2,205 in 1998.

On the eighth district, Labour veteran Joe Debono Grech lost his battle for direct election to Christian Cardona in a close fight which mirrored that of 1998, which Mr Debono Grech had won, even though Dr Cardona was eventually also elected.

On the ninth district, Nationalist MP Dolores Cristina, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was elected directly to the detriment of John Vella. She was elected from a casual election from the 10th district in 1998.

A number of candidates were elected from two districts yesterday, offering some hope of re-election to serving MPs, who were not directly re-elected.

They were Dr Fenech Adami (eighth and 11th) Dr Borg and Francis Zammit Dimech (ninth and 10th) and, possibly, Louis Galea (fifth and seventh);

Alfred Sant (first and eighth), George Vella (third and fifth) and Evarist Bartolo (10th and 12th).

Serving MPs with a chance for election through casual elections after having failed to make it on their own steam include former Labour parliamentary secretary Louis Buhagiar, Nationalist MP Helen D'Amato (who has tough competition from new candidate Anna Schiavone), Mr Debono Grech, Nationalist MP Michael Bonnici, outgoing ministers Josef Bonnici and Michael Refalo, Nationalist MPs Michael Frendo, Michael Asciak and John Vella and Labour MP Joe Cuschieri.

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