Asked by The Malta Independent for his reaction to the result, PN deputy leader Robert Arrigo said that based on the first count, the Labour Party had won a clear majority, probably around 54 to 55% while the small parties seemed to have registered 5% of the vote.

“The gap is much less than what we thought in the surveys”, Arrigo said.

He noted that the election is won on seats and not on the first count, so more sampling must be done – only 20% has been done so far.

“What worries me most however is the amount of people who picked up their vote but chose not to vote”, Arrigo said.

Asked whether the PN had any chance for winning the third seat, Arrigo said that this election is always won 4-2 by the Labour Party – the third seat in the last election was won on a fluke and by 182 votes only – so I think it is a normal trend which has been followed.

“There definitely isn’t any Nationalist Party collapse”, Arrigo said.