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 () 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 constitutional law, all gover ...

from 1998 to 2022.

Biography

Parnis was born in

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

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 Southern Region, Malta, Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 8,834 (2021). It is located between the towns of Birkirkara and Ħamrun, and also borders Qormi and Msida. History The Old Church of Santa Ven ...

.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, as well as the television programs (''You are not alone''), (''Words and Facts''), and on Smash Television. 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 () 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 constitutional law, all governme ...

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, Malta, Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 3,148 as of March 2017. The village is located on high grounds, south of the capital Valletta. It is administered by the Gudja Local Council. A numb ...

Għaxaq Għaxaq (, ) is a village in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 5,538 as of November 2021. The surrounding areas are predominantly used for agriculture. The village's name likely originates from the surname of a local noble fam ...

, Marsa (Trinity Parish Church area),

Santa Luċija Santa Luċija () 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 Government Gazette o ...

, Fgura (Mater Bon Consigli), and

Tarxien Tarxien ( ) is a town in the Port region of Malta, seat of the Port Regional Council. Its population stood at 8,583 in March 2014. The town is most notable for the Tarxien Temples, a megalithic temple complex which is among the oldest freestan ...

. 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 (Italian) or Bormla ( Maltese, ), occasionally also known by the Latin name Cottonera, is a double-fortified harbour city in the Port Region of Malta. It served as the principal port of Phoenician Malta and, through Greek, Latin, and A ...

(lent out to the Sadeen Group's private

American University of Malta The American University of Malta (AUM) is a private institution offering American-style liberal arts education, located in Cospicua, Malta. Announced in May 2015, the university was introduced as part of a broader initiative aimed at supporting ...

) 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 13th prime minister of Malta from 2013 to 2020 and leader of the Labour Party from 2008 to 2020. Muscat was first elected Prime Minister in March 2013 with 54.83 ...

, 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 spread with jam and rolled up, similar to a Swiss ...

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 early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

". 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 (, PL), formerly known as the Malta Labour Party (, MLP), is the oldest List of political parties in Malta, political party in Malta, and one of the two major parties alongside the Nationalist Party (Malta), Nationalist Party. ...

’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 The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

) *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