The election results give us a clearer picture of what people’s priorities are, Prime Minister Robert Abela said.

Speaking on home turf, the Labour Party's ONE TV - the Prime Minister did not visit the counting hall on any of the three days of counting in Naxxar - Abela said that the people has sent a message against polarised politics, “where it’s either blue or red, where one side is completely correct and one side is completely wrong”.

He continued that the peoplehas made it clear that it is not just the political parties that matter, but the themes that they represent.

Speaking about the Labour Party’s campaign experience, the Prime Minister said that the message stemming from the campaign was that the paramount need is to prioritise analysing the aforementioned themes and seeing what the people’s wishes are.

“What are the priorities?” he asked, before continuing that the priorities are that of health, environmental issues, inclusive education, sustainable development, and open spaces.

The Prime Minister said that the message from this result is that the people want the Labour Party, “but they want a renewed Labour Party … A government which continues strengthening itself”.

He said that the local council election results were another strong victory for the PL and that the people has shown strong faith in the party. “It was a victory of an absolute majority,” he remarked, adding that it was ultimately a solid victory. “This shows that the people have faith in the PL to keep leading forward a progressive political policy and the implementation of the electoral manifesto.”

Abela remarked that Malta had a European Parliament election turnout that reached the levels of turnout prior to the pandemic. He commented that this means Malta as a society which participates in what shapes its future, which he said is encouraging.

Speaking again about the election campaign, he said that the campaign was tranquil and that everyone respected one another. “Looking at what occurred in the counting hall, which often has elevated tensions, respect was maintained … This respect should be what characterises the country moving forward.”

As results were trending in during the prior days of the election, Abela had spoken on a need for humility and a grounded approach to politics. He spoke further regarding this and said that now that the elections have concluded, he now emphasises that it must be a greater humility.

“I feel humbled by the faith that the Maltese and Gozitan people have shown us,” he said, “but that faith comes with the greater responsibility for us to be a greater version of ourselves.” He added that the reaction stemming from these results “should not be what the Leader of the Nationalist Party did,” which Abela said was to go out and “celebrate a loss”, but the Prime Minister remarked that the reaction should be one which expresses the intention to work towards the future, as well as taking on the message that the population has sent through these results.

He said that over the last years and months, the government has significantly improved the people’s quality of life, “but tonight’s results show that people have different aspirations”. He remarked that if he looks back four years, back to March 2020, people’s priorities at that time were their health and livelihoods because of the extraordinary circumstances at that time. Abela said that the PL worked in those extraordinary circumstances to adjust to those priorities and address them appropriately.

Staying on that note, he said that looking back a few months ago, the new paramount priority was that of quality of life. He said that the fact that the population is changing its priorities is the fruit of the government’s success and that if a population’s priorities are not changing, or their priorities are to preserve what they have, then that would be the fruit of a government which is not properly delivering.

“In our case, the fact that the people is raising its aspirations and changing its priorities means that it has a government which is satisfying the moment’s priorities, and then the population can look forward to the next step … This forms the success of this government.”