PD Leader Marlene Farrugia, and candidate Godfrey Ferrugia walked through the Naxxar counting hall as PL counting agents sang the Carnival anthem, poking fun at the couple.

Keeping their heads held high, they walked over to their respective districts to see how they were doing. Prior to this, the two held an impromptu press conference outside the media centre.

"Forza Nazzjonali is intact and will, in Parliament, keeping pushing the government to act in a responsible manner," said Leader of the Democratic Party Marlene Farrugia.

Addressing the press in the Counting Hall this evening, Dr Farrugia was asked by this newspaper how realistic it is that Forza Nazzjonali will survive following the victory of the Labour Party in the general elections.

"Forza Nazzjonali lost the elections but it did not lose its spirit," she said.  "We chose Malta and we will keep choosing Malta and we will remain there and keep pushing so that the government will act like a responsible government.  Forza Nazzjonali is intact and it will keep doing its duty in Parliament, and whoever is not elected, from outside Parliament."

Dr Godfrey Farrugia, accompanying her, also said that his main priorities is for clean governance and the right of life, and if elected he will use his place in parliament two scrutinise the two issues.

"From the side of PD we are satisfied and we want to take this occasion to say thank you to those who gave us their trust," Dr Marlene Farrugia said. "Regarding the result of the general elections, there may be many reasons as to why this result was achieved."

"As a population, the Maltese are not understanding how much corruption would affect their future and their children's future, It seems like corruption is not such an important issue," she said/

"As we know, as we experienced not only during the legislature but also in the past few days, more money was put in people's pockets in the last month or two, and favours were given to those who have been asking for help for the past four years, in the past four days," she continued.

When asked by the media if there were other factors which were more important than corruption to the Maltese electorate, Dr Farrugia said that what is important to someone may not be of much importance to another, however "what we were pushing as a clean governance, clearly is not something the public interests itself in."

"We want to keep Malta's reputation intact, but the Maltese population does not seem worried about this issue, if they were worried, they would have voted for Forza Nazzjonali, but instead they voted for Joseph Muscat and his team," she said.

"The issue was not our proposals, our main proposal to clean governance was just not appealing to the public as much as it needed to in order for them to vote for us."

PD also issued a full statement, as follows:

"Partit Demokratiku accepts, with humility, the election results and the democratic will of the people.

"The nation is deeply divided and we need to heal that divide. We remain one, astonishing and relentless people. We have chosen Malta and will never stop choosing Malta. We are not an insignificant number, we are significant, we are there and we will continue to hold the new Labour government accountable. 

"Being part of the Forza Nazzjonali has been a wonderful experience - we have met countless people from various walks of life, we have listened, and we have learned from them. This is not the time to fragment - it is time to come together; it is time to take what we have learnt, what we have listened to, and look to the future. We have presented these various beliefs to the nation in the form of our joint manifesto. Yes, the Labour Party has won this election, but this will not render what we believe in null and void; rather, it only strengthens our desire to pursue the best for our country. This has always been the foundation of our party, and will continue to be so. 

"We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all those involved in bringing this party to life - to those who joined, helped out in any way they could and those who believed in the Forza Nazzjonali. This is not the end of Forza Nazzjonali, it is just the beginning of what can bring true change in the local political scene. 

"We encourage you to keep the flame burning, to continue to believe in the sincerity we have shown in fighting for what we truly believe is right for you, the people. 

"It is staggering that a party that started its journey just nine months go, has come so far and we credit you for taking us on this journey. We are thankful. And we will not let you down whether our candidates have been mandated with the privilege to serve you in Parliament or not. 

"We are now Malta's third biggest party and we will honour this responsibility."