There will be a good number of new faces in the next Parliament as at least 14 MPs elected in 2008 will not be on the ballot sheet in the upcoming general election.

Apart from trying to convince new voters to give them their first preference, candidates from both sides of the political divide will also be hunting for almost 60,000 votes vacated by the departing MPs.

The PN is guaranteed more new MPs on its benches as 10 of its sitting members of the House will not be standing for re-election. Among these are old party stalwarts like Louis Galea, Austin Gatt, Ninu Zammit, Michael Frendo, Louis Deguara and John Dalli.

On the Labour side, former leader Alfred Sant, who in the last election garnered more than 16,500 first preference votes in two districts, will be calling it a day.

The other Labour MPs not contesting the coming election are Adrian Vassallo, an old-timer who has fallen out with the Labour leader; Joseph Cuschieri, who vacated his seat to make way for Joseph Muscat to enter Parliament and who is now an MEP, and the popular general practitioner Karl Chircop, who died unexpectedly a few months after the last election.

“After so long in government there is evidently some fatigue among long-serving members within the Nationalist parliamentary group,” a former Nationalist MP told The Sunday Times.

“Seven former ministers, most of them in their 60s or fast approaching them, will be ending their political career to make way for new and fresher faces. Though this is positive, some of these MPs have been occupying ministerial or executive positions for almost 15 consecutive years. That’s no joke,” he said.

Three other Nationalist MPs will be making a ‘premature’ exit. Rebel MPs Franco Debono, Jesmond Mugliett and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando have been banned by the PN from contesting again on the party ticket even though the latter two had already said they would not stand.

Apart from the 32,000 Nationalist votes vacated by these MPs, there are another few thousand up for grabs, as other non-elected PN candidates have said they will not contest. These include former parliamentary secretary Helen D’Amato, former Siġġiewi mayor Robert Musumeci, current PN general secretary Paul Borg Olivier, Pippo Psaila and Georg Sapiano.

“It is evident that Labourites are expecting their party to win the election. This explains why Labour has so many new candidates, as everyone is positioning himself to make it to Parliament and hoping for more,” a Labour insider said.

“Although this is healthy and shows a party in evolution, it will also pose problems. Those sitting MPs not given a ministerial post will not be happy after serving so long in the opposition wilderness, while many of the newly elected, including those who ‘crossed’ over from the PN, will expect to be compensated with an executive position.

This will be the first big headache for Joseph Muscat if he makes it to Castille,” he said.

For the first time in many years, Labour is expected to field more candidates than the PN.

This means that winning a Labour seat in Parliament will prove more difficult than before.