Mosta Mayor Edwin Vassallo has declared he will not contest the casual election for the seat in parliament vacated by Nationalist MP Joe Cassar.

The former health minister resigned yesterday following reports on how he received gifts from businessman Joe Gaffarena.

Mr Vassallo, a former MP and parliamentary secretary, said he was happy to occupy a position where he was of service to the people of Mosta and therefore would not seek re-election to parliament.

He will, however, be a candidate for the PN in the next general election.  

The casual election will be held in the seventh electoral district 

The process to hold a casual election is set in motion by the publication of writ by the President. Within five days, the Electoral Commission will publish the date of the election and also issue a call for nominations. Only candidates who contested in the seventh district at the 2013 election would be entitled to submit their nomination. Nominations would be accepted over five days.

The commission would have to decide on the validity of the nominations within three days and hold the election within four working days.

The casual election involves the opening of a sealed package of the 4,075 votes that ended up in Dr Cassar’s pigeon hole in the last election and are now held in the commission’s strongroom.

These votes will be distributed according to the preference indicated and the process of elimination followed in the general elections will be followed. The candidate who reaches the quota first, to be set at 2,038, will be elected.

The remaining potential candidates are Tony Abela, Rudolph Grima, Peter Micallef, Philip Mifsud and David Vassallo.