Silvio Parnis (19 October 1965 – 3 January 2023) was a Maltese politician of the Labour Party. Parnis served in the

Parliament of Malta The Parliament of Malta ( mt, Il-Parlament ta' Malta) is the constitutional legislative body in Malta, located in Valletta. The parliament is unicameral, with a democratically elected House of Representatives and the President of Malta. By const ...

from 1998 to 2022.

Biography

Parnis was born in

Paola Paola is a female given name, the Italian form of the name Paula. Notable people with the name include: People In arts and entertainment *Paola Del Medico (born 1950), Swiss singer *Paola e Chiara, pop music duo consisting of two sisters born i ...

to Michael and Doris Caruana. He grew up there. He attended Paola Primary School and his secondary education at St. Elias College in

Santa Venera Santa Venera is a town in the Central Region of Malta, with a population of 8,834 (2021). It is located between the towns of Birkirkara and Ħamrun, and it also borders Qormi and Msida. History The Old Church of Santa Venera was built in 1473 ...

.Foundation for Social Welfare Services, Board Members
/ref> In 2007 he married Dorianne née Cauchi, with whom he had one son, Jacob. Parnis worked as a health supervisor and as an assistant social worker to elderly residents at the St. Vincent De Paul Residence. In 1991 he was bequeathed a small piece of land in St Paul’s Bay by will of a childless elderly couple, as he declared in Parliament in 2006.Malta Today
22 Nov 2020 While in politics, Parnis was also a television and radio presenter, discussing current and social affairs. In 2006 Parnis presented the radio program (''Problems of the Heart'') on PL-owned

One Radio One Radio (stylized as ONE Radio, previously known as Super One Radio) is a radio station in Malta owned by One Productions One Productions Limited, also known as the One Group, is a Maltese mass media and telecommunications company owned by ...

, as well as the television programs (''You are not alone''), (''Words and Facts''), and on

Smash Television Smash Television is a Maltese television station. Smash is privately owned and maintains a neutral editorial position in which different opinions on Maltese politics are expressed. It remains much smaller than the older stations. See also *Televi ...

. He stopped his media engagements after the Party decided that no election candidates should host media shows.Malta independent
19 July 2006

Political career

From 1994 to 1998, Parnis served as mayor of

. He was then elected member of the

Maltese Parliament The Parliament of Malta ( mt, Il-Parlament ta' Malta) is the constitutional legislative body in Malta, located in Valletta. The parliament is unicameral, with a democratically elected House of Representatives and the President of Malta. By cons ...

in 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2017. He always ran for the 4th electoral district, including

Gudja Gudja is a village in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 3,148 as of March 2017. The village is located on high grounds, south of Valletta. It is administered by the Gudja Local Council. A number of schools, clubs, public garden ...

Għaxaq Għaxaq ( mt, Ħal Għaxaq, ) is a village in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 4,722 people as of March 2014. It is mainly a residential area surrounded by land used for agricultural purposes. The village's name is probably re ...

, Marsa (Trinity Parish Church area),

Santa Luċija Santa Luċija ( en, Saint Lucia) is a village in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 2,997 as of March 2014. It is one of the modern towns developed in Malta during the 20th century. By virtue of an article which appeared in Gove ...

, Fgura (Mater Bon Consigli), and

Tarxien Tarxien ( mt, Ħal Tarxien) is a town in the South Eastern Region of Malta. Its population stood at 8583 in March 2014. The town is most notable for the Tarxien Temples, a megalithic temple complex which is among the oldest freestanding structur ...

. From 2013 to 2017, Parnis advocated for the Paola Square Project and an environmental study on Wied Blandun. Parnis also contributed significantly to other projects such as the university buildings in

Bormla Cospicua ( mt, Bormla ), also known by its titles Città Cospicua or Civitas Cottonera, is a double-fortified harbour city in the South Eastern Region of Malta. Along with Birgu and Senglea, it is one of the Three Cities, located within the Grand ...

(lent out to the Sadeen Group's private

American University of Malta The American University of Malta (AUM) is a private, American-style liberal arts college in Cospicua, Malta. It is a co-educational institution and its launch was announced in May 2015. The project was intended to regenerate the South of Malta a ...

) and Inwadar Park. From 2013 to 2017, he also held the role of Chairman of the Committee on Bills. Following the 2017 elections, Parnis was appointed parliamentary secretary for local government and communities in the last cabinet of

Joseph Muscat Joseph Muscat (born 22 January 1974) is a Maltese politician who served as the prime minister of Malta from 2013 to 2020, and as the leader of the Labour Party from June 2008 to January 2020. Muscat was re-elected as prime minister in the ...

, and then as parliamentary secretary for active ageing and persons with disabilities in the first Abela cabinet.Malta Independent
/ref> Parnis was left out of government in November 2020,Malta Today
/ref> following criticism of his inability to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and its impact on public elderly homes, as Malta recorded the second-highest rate of mortality in care homes in Europe. Parnis famously gifted a

jam roly-poly Jam roly-poly, shirt-sleeve pudding, dead man's arm or dead man's leg is a traditional British pudding probably first created in the early 19th century. It is a flat-rolled suet pudding, which is then spread with jam and rolled up, similar to a ...

slice to all elderly residents with the word "courage" printed on its plastic wrapping. Parnis announced he would not contest the subsequent 2022 election and that he would "dedicate more time to God and work in favour of life and against

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

". He then took up a job at Infrastructure Malta. * 1998 – 2003: Member of Parliament (opposition). * 2003 – 2008: Member of Parliament (opposition),

Partit Laburista The Labour Party ( mt, Partit Laburista, PL), formerly known as the Malta Labour Party ( mt, Partit tal-Ħaddiema, MLP), is one of the two major political parties in Malta, along with the Nationalist Party (Malta), Nationalist Party. It sits on ...

’s spokesperson for the elderly, prepared the party’s position paper for this sector in conjunction with a team of experts. * 2008 – 2013: Member of Parliament (opposition),

’s main spokesman for consumer protection. Later on during the legislature, Silvio Parnis served as Labour Party main spokesperson for the sustainable development of the south of Malta. * 2013 – 2017: Member of Parliament (in government), Chair person of consultative council for the south of Malta. * 2017 – : Member of Parliament (in government), Chair person of consultative council for the south of Malta.

Death

Parnis died of cancer on 3 January 2023, at the age of 57.

Electoral results

*1998 - Ninth Parliament: Elected on: 8 September 1998 with 2,259 first count votes. Quota was 3441 votes. (

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

) *2003 - Tenth Parliament: Elected on: 14 April 2003 with 4,157 first count votes. Quota was 3550 votes (

) *2008 - 2013 Eleventh Parliament: Elected on: 12 March 2008 with 4,890 First count votes. *2013 - 2017 Twelfth Parliament: Elected on: 11 March 2013 with 978 first count votes *2017 - 2022 Thirteenth Parliament: Elected on: 3 June 2017 with 3,334 first count votes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parnis, Silvio 1965 births 2023 deaths 20th-century Maltese politicians 21st-century Maltese politicians Members of the House of Representatives of Malta Labour Party (Malta) politicians People from Paola, Malta