Joseph Cuschieri

Joseph Cuschieri
Member of the European Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 June 2009
Majority	19,672
Member of Parliament
In office 1998 – 2008
Succeeded by	Joseph Muscat
Personal details
Born	20 February 1968 (1968-02-20) (age 43) Attard, Malta
Nationality	Maltese
Political party	Labour (PL)
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	www.josephcuschieri.com www.mlp.org.mt

Joseph Cuschieri (born February 20, 1968) is a Maltese politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2009. Previously he served in the House of Representatives of Malta from 1998 to 2008. He was born in a working class family and joined the Labour Party at a very early age.

Background

Cuschieri was born in Attard. Before becoming a politician, he worked in the textile industry, at the dockyards, as a journalist and broadcaster, and in the tourism industry. He was a founder of Super One Radio (now One Radio),^{[citation needed]} where he worked as a journalist.

Political career

Cuschieri became active in the Labour Party at 13^{[citation needed]} when he joined the Socialist Youth League in Sliema.

In 1994 he was nominated first Deputy Mayor of St. Julian's, after polling the largest number of votes among independent candidates.^[1] In the second local council elections in 1996 he was re-elected with the largest numbers of votes among all candidates.

Election as an MP

Cuschieri was elected as an MP for three consecutive terms commencing 1998. He garnered a greater share of the vote in 2003 and then in 2008.^[2]

From 1998 to 2003 he served, alongside Charles Mangion, as spokesperson for Local Councils. From 2003 to 2008 he served with Karmenu Vella and Evarist Bartolo as spokesperson for tourism, Air Malta, and hotels. He was also appointed Speaker for the Infrastructure and Capital Projects, together with Charles Buhagiar.

During his ten-year parliamentary career Cuschieri served on delegations to the United Kingdom, Isle of Man, Tunisia, Australia, South Korea, Germany, Palestine, Israel and Jordan, among others.

Resignation from the House of Representatives

In September 2008 Cuschieri ceded his parliamentary seat to newly-elected Labour leader Dr Joseph Muscat, who at that time was not a member of Parliament.^[3]

Muscat thanked Cuschieri for "his extraordinary and generous decision",^[4] and Charles Mangion, former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party for Parliamentary Affairs, described Cuschieri as a hard worker and remarkably altruistic, calling his resignation historically and politically important for the country.^[5]

Following the resignation of his seat, Cuschieri was elected unanimously to the National Executive of the Labour Party.^{[citation needed]}

Joseph Cuschieri for MEP

Cuschieri will take up Malta's sixth seat in the European Parliamentary elections once it is allocated to Malta in terms of the Lisbon Treaty. He will be given observer status in January.^[6]

References

1. ^ "Results of Council Elections, by Locality, 1993 - 2008". Maltadata.com. http://www.maltadata.com/list.htm. 
2. ^ Malta Department of Information figures
3. ^ "Joseph Cuschieri se jcedi postu fil-Parlament lill-Mexxej Laburista Joseph Muscat (Joseph Cuschiere will cede his Parliamentary post to Labour leader Joseph Muscat)" (in Maltese). Maltese Labour Party official website. 20 September 2008. http://www.mlp.org.mt/content.aspx?Cnt=NewsDetails&t=content&ID=stq20092008a. Retrieved 2 February 2009. 
4. ^ "It's official, Cuschieri to give up his seat for Joseph Muscat". Times of Malta. 20 September 2008. http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080920/local/joseph-muscat-to-replace-joseph-cuschieri. Retrieved 2 February 2009. 
5. ^ "Joseph Cuschieri sacrifices parliamentary seat for Leader". Malta Media News. 29 September 2008. http://www.maltamedia.com/artman2/publish/govt_politics/article_7795.shtml. Retrieved 2 February 2009. 
6. ^ "Malta's MEPs - four incumbents, two newcomers". Times of Malta. 10 June 2009. http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090610/local/maltas-new-meps. Retrieved 10 June 2009. 

External links

• Official website of Joseph Cuschieri: www.josephcuschieri.com

Persondata
Name	Cuschieri, Joseph
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	20 February 1968
Place of birth	Attard, Malta
Date of death
Place of death