Canvassers lending their addresses to the Refalos in Xewkija

Details of Minister Anton Refalo’s canvassers who are offering their addresses for his wife and two children to vote in the locality his daughter is contesting for the local council elections have been uncovered by The Shift.

Refalo’s daughter, Simona Refalo, 19, is contesting the local council elections in Xewkija. Her father has pulled all the stops for her to succeed as the battle within Labour between Gozitan ministers heats up.

Investigations by The Shift show that while the minister’s family lives together in an ODZ villa in Qala, they have all made false declarations with the authorities saying they live in Xewkija.

While the 68-year-old minister has registered a flat he owns in the locality and rents out to third parties as his residence, his son Andre, 21, declared that he lives at an address in Triq l-Imgarr.

The address consists of an unfinished apartment owned by Angelo Spiteri, the driver of Minister Refalo.

Refalo’s wife, Michelina, and her daughter Simona, have also falsely declared that they live at 76, Triq it-Torri Tingi.

That is the address of Carmen Buttigieg, an 86-year-old Xewkija resident. Whether she consented to the Refalos using her address in their declaration is unclear.

Xewkija candidates who spoke to The Shift insisted that some 100 canvassers and family friends of the Refalos have changed their ID cards to addresses in Xewkija so that they could vote for Simona Refalo and make her their new mayor.

The Shift has confirmed that some Xewkija residents refused to accept voting documents from the police, informing them that some registered at their home addresses did not live with them. They told The Shift they had filed police reports.

Simona Refalo, a law student, is contesting the elections for the first time.

Xewkija is a traditional Labour stronghold in Gozo. In the last elections in 2019, Labour got 70% of the votes, with Hubert Saliba declared mayor with 430 first-count votes. He has turned down Labour’s invitation to contest again.

Anton Refalo’s attempts to launch his daughter into politics intensified in the last week with the minister knocking on doors in Xewkija canvassing for his daughter.

Simona Refalo has never lived in Xewkija and is being primed by her father to eventually take up his seat in parliament, possibly after the next general elections.

Anton Refalo is the oldest member of Robert Abela’s Cabinet and has been returned to parliament in every election since 1987.