Edwin Vassallo (born 24 June 1961) is a Maltese politician and businessman formerly from the Nationalist Party who served as a member of the Parliament of Malta from 1996 to 2022. He was elected to Parliament in the 1996 Maltese general election, and took office on 5 December 1996, and would serve until 20 February 2022 when Parliament dissolved before the 2022 elections.[1] Vassallo was defeated in 2022 elections.[2] Vassallo served as a Parliamentary Secretary (junior minister) in various capacities under the premierships of Eddie Fenech Adami and Lawrence Gonzi from 1998 until 2008. He also served as the mayor of Mosta from 2015 to 2016. Vassallo was also a member of the Parliamentary Petitions Committee in the Thirteenth Legislature from 2017 until 2022.
Edwin Vassallo | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament | |
| In office 26 November 2016 – 20 February 2022 | |
| In office 5 December 1996 – 7 January 2013 | |
| Mayor of Mosta | |
| In office 2015–2016 | |
| Preceded by | Shirley Farrugia |
| Succeeded by | Ivan Bartolo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 24, 1961 |
| Political party | Nationalist Party until 2023 Independent 2023 – |
| Spouse | Caroline Vassallo |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Malta |
A shopkeeper, Vassallo chose to run in the 1996 elections for the Nationalist Party. Over the years, Vassallo was widely regarded as one of the most Catholic ultra-conservative members of Parliament. The Malta Today wrote in 2022 that his "shopkeeper mentality gave him a lack of sophistication that ironically brought him the allure of a man of the people, a marked distinction in a party of lawyers."[citation needed] Vassallo had been one of the most vocal opponents of the introduction of divorce in Malta, which was approved by voters in a 2011 referendum. He was also the only MP to oppose the introduction of same-sex marriage in Malta in 2017,[3] and also voted against a domestic violence bill in 2018 which integrated the Istanbul Convention into Maltese law.[4]
Post-parliamentary political career
editEdwin Vassallo claimed in a video in 2023 to have left the Nationalist Party citing his values and in turn founded a think-tank called the Solidarity Movement (Maltese: Moviment Solidarjetà), which he leads as Coordinator.[5] Vassallo, through MS, has collaborated with the People's Party on a press-conference regarding road projects and works in his native Mosta which he claims were full of irresponsibly planned and resulted in injuries due to lack of safety procedures.[6] He is currently a candidate for the 2024 European Parliament elections as an independent.[7][8][9][10]
Electoral history
editEuropean Parliament elections
edit| Election | Party | FTP Votes | FTP% | Result / Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Independent | 712 | 0.28 | Not elected, eliminated on Count 21, 902 votes | |
General elections
edit| Party | Election | District/s Contested[a] | FTP Votes | FTP%[b] | Result / Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} Partit Nazzjonalista
|
1996 | Unknown, no clear data | Elected | |||
| 1998 | ||||||
| 2003 | ||||||
| 2008 | District 7 | 755 | 3.2% | Not elected | ||
| District 11 | 2047 | 9% | ||||
| 2008 casual elections | Co-opted | |||||
| 2013 | District 7 | 438 | 1.8% | Not elected | ||
| District 11 | 1263 | 5.1% | Initially not elected due to mistake by electoral commission, as later ruled by the Constitutional Court.[11][12] | |||
| 2017 | District 7 | 256 | 1% | Not elected | ||
| District 11 | 438 | 1.8% | Elected on the 22nd count | |||
| 2022 | District 7 | 490 | 2% | Not elected | ||
| District 11 | 371 | 1.5% | ||||
Local elections
edit| Party | Election | Local Council Contested | FTP Votes | FTP
% |
Position | Result / Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partit Nazzjonalista
|
2015 |  Mosta
|
2774 | 21% | 1st | Elected as Councillor, and subsequently as Mayor | |
Personal life
editEdwin Vassallo is married to Caroline, with whom he has 2 sons. The family resides in Mosta.
Vassallo is a Catholic and his opposition to, and the nay vote to the Marriage Equality Act, were inspired from these beliefs.[13]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Hon. Edwin Vassallo MP". Parliament of Malta. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- ^ "Edwin and Jason: End of the road for two PN archetypes". Malta Today. 19 April 2022.
- ^ "Marriage Equality Act approved with Edwin Vassallo voting against". Times of Malta. 12 July 2017. Archived from the original on 13 July 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ^ Cilia, Rebekah (25 April 2018). "Domestic violence bill approved - 20 PN MPs vote against; age of consent also lowered to 16". The Malta Independent.
- ^ Vassallo, Edwin (12 April 2023). "Ir-rispett lejn id-diversità lejn l-umanità ġenwina tal- bniedem hija milja ta' rispett lejn l-ugwaljanza".
- ^ "Stqarrija 15-2023". Partit Popolari. 2023-09-08. Retrieved 2023-09-09.
- ^ Muscat, Gavin (9 April 2024). "Edwin Vassallo se jikkontesta l-elezzjoni tal-PE" [Edwin Vassallo shall be contesting the EP election]. Newsbook Malta (in Maltese). Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ^ "Former parliamentary secretary Edwin Vassallo to stand for MEP elections". Times of Malta. 2024-04-09. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
- ^ "Edwin Vassallo to contest European elections, but not with the Nationalist Party". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
- ^ "Former PN parliamentary secretary to contest MEP election - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
- ^ "Updated (3): Constitutional Court orders PN to be given 2 more seats in House, appeal to be filed - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
- ^ "Two extra seats for PN: Edwin Vassallo, Peter Micallef likely to make return to Parliament - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
- ^ "Struttura fil-PN se tiddeċiedi dwar il-vot ta' Edwin Vassallo" [A structure in the Nationalist Party shall deliberate a ruling on Edwin Vassallo's vote.]. TVMnews.mt (in Maltese). 2017-07-13. Retrieved 2023-09-09.