MEPs expenses within limit

All the elected candidates in June's European Parliament election have declared expenses within the legal limit, with John Attard Montalto topping the list having spent €18,600 on his campaign.

The sworn declarations obtained from the Electoral Commission show that Edward Scicluna claims to have spent €17,900, Louis Grech €17,688, David Casa €17,674, Simon Busuttil €17,570, while Dr Attard Montalto with his €18,600, was only €35 shy of the legal limit for European elections.

The highest spender overall was Labour candidate Sharon Ellul Bonici who spent almost €57,000 on her campaign, way above the limit.

However, she was also the most transparent. Ms Ellul Bonici listed by name the people and companies that gave her donations to finance the lucrative campaign and these included, among others, Polidano Group, which donated €6,000, entertainment entrepreneur Frank Grima, who donated €2,000, and Paceville club Hugo's, donating €2,000. Ms Ellul Bonici's husband forked out €14,000 and the candidate herself came up with another €14,000 from personal funds.

Her campaign was only rivalled by Nationalist candidate Edward Demicoli who declared expenses that totalled just over €52,000.

Ms Ellul Bonici and Mr Demicoli were the only two candidates to declare they spent more than the legal limit.

Fourth-placed, Roberta Metsola Tedesco Triccas, was just under the limit, having spent €18,408 on her campaign.

Labour candidate Steve Borg, who ran a very low-cost campaign, also submitted his monthly pay slip with the declaration, which highlighted his lowly wage as a public servant.

Alternattiva Demokratika's Arnold Cassola declared €542 in election costs, however, it must be noted that the declarations covered only expenses incurred by individual candidates and did not include the expenditure made by the political parties themselves.

Alpha Liberal Party candidate Emmy Bezzina declared he spent no money on his campaign while Azzjoni Nazzjonali's Malcolm Seychell was the only candidate not to submit a sworn declaration.

On a lighter note, independent candidate Cecil Herbert Jones was the only candidate to declare hair-dressing expenses.

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