Dr Tony Abela is returning to Parliament following an absence of seven years after winning the casual election held yesterday to fill the seat vacated by the resignation of Nationalist MP Joe Cassar.

Dr Abela, son of former Nationalist MP Sammy Abela, was elected at the fifth count with 3,596 votes.

In the casual election, the 4,075 votes that led to Dr Cassar’s election in the 2013 election were opened and distributed according to preferences. The quota was set at 2,038, half that of the 2013 election.

After the first count Dr Abela had 1,406 votes. He was followed by David Vassallo with 965, Philip Mifsud who got 642, Rudolph Grima with 566 and Peter Micallef with 365.

Dr Micallef was eliminated and the votes distributed to the other candidates according to voters’ preferences. After the second count, Dr Abela continued to lead by 1,461 votes, 418 votes more than Mr Vassallo who came second.

After Mr Grima’s elimination, Mr Mifsud overtook Mr Vassallo by a mere eight votes.

The fourth count was won by Dr Abela with 1,978 votes against the 1,853 votes of Philip Mifsud, who was eliminated.

However, the fifth count had to take place since according to the electoral law, should no candidate obtain the quota the new MP has to be chosen through the co-option procedure. Dr Abela obtained 1,558 votes more than the quota and was elected.

A notary by profession, Dr Abela stood for election for the first time in 1981; he was first elected in 1987 and again in 1996, 1998 and 2003.

After the 2003 election, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Economic Services within the Ministry of Finance led by John Dalli. When Dr Lawrence Gonzi became Prime Minister in March 2004, Dr Abela was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister.

Contacted by this paper, Dr Abela thanked his family and his constituents. “On Tuesday I shall meet the party leader to listen to his views. I will do what will be requested of me.”