“The new government does not have political legitimacy, as none of the parties got an absolute majority. It is clear that the population does not want to be ruled by any of these parties,” Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Harry Vassallo told The Malta Independent yesterday.

“AD has had a very good fight. However we should have had an even playing field not only during the elections but also in between the elections – democracy demands that,” he added when asked to comment about the election’s long-drawn out results yesterday.

“One of my predictions came true and in fact there have been no carcades yet. Both parties received under 50 per cent and the result will only be clear when the last AD candidate will be elected or rejected, and not at the end of the first count as some may have expected. This could have been avoided if the parties had decided to form an alliance with AD before the election was held. We could have had a clearer result much earlier in the day if our electoral support was sought by another party,” said Dr Vassallo.

AD’s PRO Mr Ralph Cassar said: “It appears that neither of the main parties got 50 per cent plus one of the votes which means that the people have cut them down to size. For a government to be formed, the opposition will have more votes, and that means we shall have a minority government.”