Nigel Vella celebrates CEO position, announces PL candidacy

Labour militant and the President of one of Hamrun’s band clubs, Nigel Vella, threw a massive party to celebrate his newly acquired contract as CEO of the government’s Mediterranean Conference Centre (MCC) while announcing his political candidacy, attempting to become a Labour MP in the next general elections.

Organised by his ‘friends’ – a common excuse for politicians to avoid questions on political financing – Vella organised a coffee morning for his would-be constituents, announcing his candidacy on the PL ticket.

His announcement coincided with his acquisition of some €90,000 a year from state coffers as the new CEO of the MCC—a position that ITS CEO Pierre Fenech handled part-time for years.

Sources close to Vella told The Shift that the San Gejtanu Band Club President eagerly awaited his lucrative government contract so that he could make his long-expected political announcement.

They said Prime Minister Robert Abela’s ‘gift’ will help Vella finance his political campaign to enter the House of Representatives.

Vella will be contesting the first electoral district, which includes Hamrun, Valletta, and Floriana. Labour has a big void in the district following the retirement of veteran MP Jose Herrera and the fall from grace of former minister Aaron Farrugia, who was ousted from the Cabinet by the Prime Minister.

Sources said that with Keith Azzopardi Tanti as the only Labour MP in the district—considered by insiders as ineffective—Vella stands a very good chance of making it to parliament on his first attempt.

Vella, a former Labour Head of Communications, has been on the government’s gravy train for years.

He worked alongside the former government chief spokesperson Kurt Farrugia and is considered to align with the PL faction supporting the disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat.

Last year, following the MEP elections, Vella was touted to become the CEO of the Labour Party. Robert Abela unexpectedly gave him the cold shoulder, preferring former Cannabis Authority boss Leonid McKay in his stead, even though the latter is not considered ‘a party boy’.