Today marked the second day of vote counting for the local council elections, with a completely new set of localities having had the composition of their councils decided upon.
The PL took a large number of councils in today’s batch of localities, which had their votes counted. Some major localities including Birkirkara, Msida and Rabat (Malta) were retained by the PL, whilst the PN lost San Gwann. While the PN did hold on to Sliema by quite a majority, and kept a few other localities, overall it was a dismal night for the PN.
Localities won by the parties:
PL : Kalkara, Gudja, marsaxlokk, Ghaxaq, Msida, Sannat, Paola, Pieta, Cospicua, Zabbar, Fgura, Rabat (Malta), Birkirkara, San Gwann, Marsascala, Xaghra
PN: Lija, Rabat (Gozo), Sliema, Mgarr
As for Gharb, the PL took 2 seats, independent candidates took another 2 and the PN took 1 seat.
Live blog:
10.44pm: The results for the final localities are in. The PL has taken Birkirkara with 7 seats to the PN's 6 and the PL has also taken San Gwann (5 seats to the PN's 4)
10.32pm: The PL has retained a one-seat majority in Rabat (Malta), winning 5 seats to the PN's 4. Sandro Craus will be the mayor.
10.22pm: Sliema has remained firmly in the PN camp, with the PN winning 10 of the 13 seats. the mayor will be Anthony Chircop. Meanwhile, the PL won a strong majority in Fgura, winning 7 of the 9 seats. The PN has also retained Mgarr with 3 seats to the PL's 2.
10.17pm: The PL has won 7 of the 9 seats in Marsascala, increasing their seat majority in the locality. This was followed by very loud and joyous celebrations by the PL agents.
10pm: The PL has retained control of the Cospicua local council with 6 of the 7 seats. The PL also won 9 of the 11 seats in Zabbar.
9.50pm: The PL has retained control of the Pieta local council with 3 seats to the PN's 2.
9.30pm: While the official count is not in, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has tweeted that the PL has taken San Gwann from the PN (who had a seat majority last election) and held all its councils.
9.20pm: The PN won 2 seats in Paola, with 5 going to the PL who won the locality.
8.56pm: The PN has kep hold of Rabat in Gozo with 4 seats to the PL's 3.
8.54pm: The Labour Party has kept a hold of Msida with 5 seats to the PN's 4. The PL has also won 4 of the 5 seats in Sannat. The labour party agents have been having one celebration after another, cheering and singing.
Economy Minister and PL Deputy Leader Chris Cardona, in comments to this newsroom, said that today is a continuity of the trends seen in this election, seeing positive results for the PL in the EP elections. He said that a number of localities have switched to Labour, both yesterday and today. Cardona also said that the local councils with a PL majority would need to implement the PL's manifesto. "Let's pull up our sleeves and get to work."
8.35pm: Ghaxaq has gone to the PL, who won 4 of the 5 seats. The PL also won 4 seats in Xaghra out of 5.
8.30pm: Two independent local councillors were elected in Gharb, as were two PL councillors. The final seat was taken by the PN. The majority of votes in Gharb were traditionally given to the PN in the past.The two independent candidates include David Apap who is a former PN councillor.
8.06pm: Labour party agents began cheering and chanting over their victory in the Birkirkara local council election. While the official results have not yet been posted, PL officials told this newsroom that their party won a majority in the locality. The PL have also retained Marsaxlokk, 4 seats to the PN's 1.
8pm: The Labour Party won 3 of the 5 local council seats in Gudja.
7.34pm: The Labour Party won a strong majority in Kalkara, taking four of the five seats on the local council. Wayne Aquilina will be the mayor.
7.20pm: The PD's Deputy Leader and candidate for the Sliema local council Timothy Alden was present at the counting hall earlier, and said in a Facebook post that a PL agent tried to pick a fight with him using phrases like "who are the PD".
7.10pm: The result for the first locality, Lija, has been announced, with the PN holding on to the locality with 3 seats to the PL's 2. Anthony Dalli is the new mayor.
6.30pm: No results in yet, however Gudja, Kalkara and Gharb are likely to be two of the earliest ones out, given their small size.
5.35pm: The second stage has begun and counting agents are lifting up votes so that party agents can check them. Some party agents seem to be yelling at those counting at the Paola table, regarding whether some votes are invalid or not.
4.50pm: Party counting agents have begun entering the hall, and it is expected that the second stage - where they will be shown the votes - will begin at around 5.20pm. Following this step, the votes will be scanned.
3.30pm: The first phase of the procedure is still underway. While the counting hall is still relatively empty with very few people about (except for Commission officials), some people from the PL believe the Labour Party could take hold of San Gwann from the Nationalist Party. It was a very tight race in terms of first count votes back in 2013.
2.30pm: The Electoral Commission has just brought the ballot boxes to the counting tables, and the votes are now being placed face down on the tables. This is the first phase of the process.
For the first time in history, every local council in Malta held their elections at the same time. Due to this, vote counting has been spread over three days, with a new batch of councils having their votes counted each day.
Today, 21 localities will have their votes counted. These are Fgura, Marsaskala, Sliema, Rabat (both Malta and Gozo), Birkirkara, Lija, Marsaxlokk, Msida, Kalkara, Zabbar, Mgarr, San Gwann, Gudja, Paola, Bormla, Gharb, Ghaxaq, Xaghra, Sannat, and Pieta will know their councils on Thursday.
The PN lost some major localities yesterday, including Valletta for the first time ever, and also St Paul's Bay.
Some localities that were close in terms of first count votes last election are set to be decided today, including Birkirkara, Pieta, San Gwann and Msida.
The Malta Independent will bring you live updates throughout the day from the Naxxar counting hall, as we did yesterday.