The Labour Party is on course for another landslide victory, with Labour media predicting a 39,474 majority, as the counting of votes at the Naxxar counting hall continues.
Prime Minister elect Robert Abela claimed victory and PN Leader Bernard Grech conceded defeat earlier on.
The turnout for the General Election 2022 was the lowest since Independence, as only 85% of those eligible cast their vote.
Labour won eight of the 13 districts, excluding the 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, which were won by the Nationalist Party.
In four districts, Labour won with a 4-1 seat majority.
The results mean the PL should secure an 11-seat majority over the Nationalist Party.
You can follow updates on the process, live below:
23.00: The PL media has predicted the PL's majority to be 39,474, slightly lower than the 41,600 predicted earlier in the day.
22.21: The Labour Party media have released a set of unofficial results
1st District
PL: 60.1%
PN: 37.6%
Others: 2.4%
PL: Keith Azzopardi Tanti, Deo Debattista and Aaron Farrugia
PN: Darren Carabott and Mario De Marco
2nd District
PL: 71.2%
PN: 26.3%
Others: 2.5%
PL: Robert Abela, Clyde Caruana, Chris Agius and Alison Zerafa Civelli
PN: Stephen Spiteri
3rd District
PL: 69.0%
PN: 27.7%
Others: 3.2%
PL: Chris Fearne, Owen Bonnici, Carmelo Abela and Andy Ellul
PN: Stephen Spiteri
4th District
PL: 67.6%
PN: 29.5%
Others: 2.9%
PL: Chris Fearne, Byron Camilleri, Jonathan Attard and Chris Bonett
PN: Mark Anthony Sammut
5th District
PL: 65.2%
PN: 31.8%
Others: 3.0%
PL: Robert Abela, Miriam Dalli, Owen Bonnici and Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi
PN: Bernard Grech
6th District
PL: 60.6%
PN: 37.3%
Others: 2.2%
PL: Silvio Schembri, Roderick Galdes, Ian Borg
PN: Jerome Caruana Cilia and Ryan Callus
7th District
PL: 55.5%
PN: 41.4%
Others: 3.1%
PL: Ian Borg, Silvio Schembri and Julia Farrugia Portelli
PN: Adrian Delia and Ryan Callus
8th District
PL: 44.4%
PN: 52.2%
Others: 3.4%
PL: Clyde Caruana and Edward Zammit Lewis
PN: Justin Schembri, Beppe Fenech Adami and Adrian Delia
9th District
PL: 40.6%
PN: 55.9%
Others: 3.4%
PL: Clifton Grima and Michael Falzon
PN: Joseph Giglio, Robert Arrigo and Ivan Bartolo
10th District
PL: 37.0%
PN: 58.6%
Others: 4.3%
PL: Michael Falzon and Clifton Grima
PN: Joe Giglio, Robert Arrigo and Mark Anthony Sammut
11th District
PL: 41.2%
PN: 53.3%
Others: 4.6%
PL: Miriam Dalli and Alex Muscat
PN: Bernard Grech, Ivan Bartolo and David Agius
13th District
PL: 53.5%
PN: 43.9%
Others: 2.5%
PL: Clint Camilleri, Anton Refalo and Jo Etienne Abela
PN: Alex Borg and Chris Said
22.05:
District 12 OFFICIAL
The official results for District 12 are out.
The PN held on to the district by a very small margin.
PN - 10,829 votes
PL - 10,245
ADPD - 527
Partit Popolari - 142
ABBA - 122
Independent candidates - 16
Invalid votes - 705
Candidates elected:
PL: Clayton Bartolo, Michael Farrugia
PN: Ivan Castillo, Robert Cutajar, Graziella Galea
22.00: There was a mistake in the projections, Graziella Galea was elected on the 12th district for the PN, not Ivan Bartolo
21.44: The PN's Mark Anthony Sammut seems to have been elected on the 4th district.
21.30: A number of celebrations have taken place for candidates on different districts, although no official numbers are out. It seems that PL's Chris Bonett was elected on the 4th district and Jonathan Attard on the 3rd.
21:26 - We are still waiting for more word about district results, but we are seeing some candidates make their own announcements based on the projections they are seeing.
One of those is new PN candidate Joe Giglio, who has said that the indications are that he will be elected on both the 9th and 10th districts. A strong showing from the lawyer who was once touted for a PN leadership post.
21:09 - The quite ridiculous thing at this point here in the counting hall is that the media is currently relying on projections issued by Labour Party media or party internal data – simply on the basis that both major parties have access to the voting figures as they are being counted and the media does not.
The official figures will be released by the Electoral Commission this evening, and this will be the full final result – but at this point the media is constrained to the absurd situation of having to rely on political party media for any information of which way any electoral district went and cannot with its own eyes see what is going on.
20:58 - Another unofficial result is in.
On the first district, the PL has won 60.1% of the vote, the PN has taken 37.6% of the vote, and other parties scooped up the remaining 2.4%.
Keith Azzopardi Tanti – the Pieta mayor and a new candidate – leads the way for the PL. Deo Debattista and Aaron Farrugia were the others elected, meaning that Jose Herrera has not been elected (though a casual election may await).
For the PN, Mario De Marco has retained his seat and Darren Carabott – another new candidate – has taken the other seat. Projections are showing that Carabott actually faired better than De Marco, but we are not sure of this yet.
20:37 - The first unofficial district results are coming in.
The sixth district has, unsurprisingly, gone the PL’s way. Silvio Schembri, Roderick Galdes, and Ian Borg have been elected for the PL, while Jerome Caruana Cilia and Ryan Callus take up the remaining two spots for the PN.
As reported by The Malta Independent earlier in the day, Caruana Cilia exceeded expectations. He in fact exceeded the quota quite comfortably at the first count.
More significantly, the PN have succeeded in holding onto the 12th district – at least according to an unofficial result being issued by the Labour Party.
PN here achieved a 49.5% vote share compared to 46.8% for the PL. Other parties achieved 3.7% here, meaning that ADPD have had a strong showing here and likely decided the destination of the third seat.
Over here, Robert Cutajar and Ivan Castillo were elected quite comfortably for the PN, while Clayton Bartolo and Michael Farrugia were elected for the PL. Ivan Bartolo was the man who managed to grasp that fifth seat for the PN.
20:14 - ADPD have said that it will be contesting the voting results in court next week, having achieved between 4,500 and 5,000 votes from around half of the votes – quite an improvement based on their showing in 2017.
19:00 - Things have quietened down quite a bit now. Most of the boxes have been sorted, and all that’s left now is for all votes to be put through the scanners.
Almost all of the districts have been settled one way or the other. The only one which is yet to be called is the 12th district. The contest here for the elusive third seat is very close, and is expected to be decided based on how votes are inherited.
Indications are starting to come in about which candidates have been elected, and a few surprises – on both sides – are expected.
17:45 - Here's a recap of what's gone on in the last couple of hours or so:
- Robert Abela has addressed party supporters outside the PL HQ in Hamrun, where he has spoken of the need to work together and represent everyone, not just Labourites.
- Bernard Grech meanwhile told the press at the counting hall that it is his duty to continue to sustain the PN, saying that a vacuum in the party would cause more harm than good.
- Early indications meanwhile from the counting hall, on the PN's side, are that a number of new candidates appear to be outpacing party veterans in the polls.
- Independent candidate Arnold Cassola also gave a small press conference outside the press room here in the counting hall, where he said that he's had his best performance yet when contesting a general election. He's polled at around 2% on both the 10th and 11th districts where he contested - equivalent to between 400 and 500 first count votes. No mean feat for an independent candidate.
15:13 - Labour Party media is predicting 41,600 majority in the election.
14.50 - Bernard Grech arrived at the counting hall.
14:11 - In his comments, Prime Minister Robert Abela said that the outcome of the general election which resulted into a landslide victory for the PL by a margin of 30,000 votes or more, ‘will bring on a greater responsibility.’
Arriving at the Counting Hall in Naxxar, Abela gave his comments to journalists, saying that Maltese and Gozitan citizens have put their faith into the Labour party once again.
“Yesterday, the public decided that Malta must continue moving forward. The result brings a greater responsibility, which will translate into greater humility. We will work to continue to do good for the people.”
Abela appealed for a more united government, which works in the interests of the public without any distinction.
13:42 - Robert Abela has arrived at the counting hall, to the jubilant chants of party agents. He gave a short comment to the media as he entered the counting hall, but did not take questions from the media. More on what he told the media very soon.
13:03 - PN leader Bernard Grech meanwhile has given his first reaction to the result, saying in a statement that he wanted to stay on as party leader and will go to internal party structures to do just that.
You can read his full message here.
12:27 - Celebrations are in full swing outside the Labour Party headquarters in Hamrun, as the post-mortem on the election result has begun on both national television – where a particularly animated Franco Debono is dissecting the result – and party media.
Things in Naxxar meanwhile have now calmed down somewhat, as attention turns to the sampling on each district and any indications on which candidates may have been elected from where.
Photo: Mike Camilleri
12:19 - President George Vella has said that shortly after Abela’s announcement of the Labour Party’s victory, he had called Abela to congratulate him and wish him well in the role.
12:05 - The celebrations meanwhile have begun, with fireworks being heard across the country and carcades now whizzing across various parts of Malta and Gozo. This shot was snapped in San Gwann.
11:57 - Away from the major parties for a minute, independent candidate Arnold Cassola seems very happy with how he has performed across the two districts which he contested in, which were the 10th and 11th districts.
He’s taken to Facebook to share that his vote in those two districts seems to hover at around 2%. It remains to be seen what that will mean in the grander scheme of who exactly is elected from, but he is pleased with the outcome.
11:41 - Although the final result is not out yet, it is very clear that the nation has chosen the Labour Party to govern for the next five years, Chris Fearne told The Malta Independent in his first comments.
He added that the victory is a deserved one, as the Labour Party has campaigned for a united country it continues to lead with the same ideology.
“The party has been vindicated in what it has said in the last nine years: that they were the best choice for the country; and that we want the next five years to be even better” he said.
Speaking about the 15% that have decided not to vote, he said that the Labour Party will be running after each and every one of them as democracy requires the participation of everyone.
“The decision to vote or not to vote is available to anyone but as a party we are interested in the 15% who decided not to and why they decided not to,” he said.
11:29 - In his first reaction to the indicative result, PL candidate Ian Borg said that he feels satisfied that the nation has once again chosen the Labour Party.
“The nation has chosen with an absolute majority the party that has lead the country for the past five years and which has the best plan in store for the next five” he said.
Speaking about specific candidate results he said that since the system is different nothing is yet clear.
He added that the results indicate that the work which the government has done has been appreciated in the district in which he has contested.
11:23 - PN Secretary General Michael Piccinino is giving his first reactions to the result to TVM. He says that Bernard Grech has been in touch with Robert Abela to concede defeat in the election, and thanked those who gave their faith to the PN in the election.
11:15 - Amidst the chants, a Greek flag could be spotted being waved. Flyers with the Greek flag and Bernard Grech super imposed onto a couple of leadership figures from Malta's past are also strewn around the counting hall. It's a reference to a statement Grech once made where he said in an interview that he sometimes preferred to tell people that he was from Greece rather than Malta, owing to how Malta's reputation has been sullied abroad.
11:09 - PL Deputy leader Daniel Micallef is amongst those being lifted in celebration at the counting hall, and he's given first comments to TVM: "From tomorrow we go back to work to implement our electoral programme," he says. Asked about the margin of victory, Micallef says it is an "absolute majority" but declines to give exact figures, saying they'll be announced later.
Chris Fearne has given similar comments, saying that the country has to get back to work from tomorrow, but that the majority is a clear sign of faith in the Labour Party.
11:02 - Robert Abela has just been on TVM and declared victory in the election for the PL. He appealed for a spirit of national unity, and for the country to return to normal as from tomorrow. Asked what the margin of victory was, however, Abela said it would not be prudent to say so at this moment.
Celebrations have broken out in the counting hall in the meantime, with Labour agents and delegates chanting Robert Abela's name.
10:50 -We are hearing that the PL may have won the election by a gap of around 30,000 votes or more. Nothing official yet, and no perspex banging yet either, but it's looking like the lower than usual turnout has not really affected how things have played out.
10:37 - The perspex banging still hasn't begun, even if a Labour victory now appears to be quite clear - something which doesn't come as a surprise to anyone. Party agents are, we've heard, finding it a bit more difficult than usual to get a definitive sample because of how the boxes are being opened - a process which has changed since 2017.
10:06 - The counting hall is now a hive of activity, with the sampling now in full swing. Party delegates and candidates alike are swarming around their respective districts. We are expecting the first indications on the result in the next few minutes.
09:47 - We are waiting for the first of the so-called 'super samples' from the parties. These are samples which are made up of around 5,000 votes and which should give us a good indication of where this election has gone and by how much.
09:43 - While sampling is still ongoing, the Labour Party seems confident of an electoral victory... so much so that their party headquarters is already being decked out with Robert Abela branded banners and flags. The below photo was snapped by our photographer Michael Camilleri.
09:32 - The process is now underway across all 13 districts.
09:27 - Just as a reminder, the turnout for this election is just 85.5%, meaning that around 52,000 people did not collect their vote or didn't vote. It's the lowest turnout since Malta won independence from the British in 1964.
09:25 - The counting process has begun, allbeit some 25 minutes late. Parties will now be taking their samples which will ultimately give us an indication of the result of the vote.