Malta: Labour claim victory in parliamentary elections
Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela has claimed victory on Sunday in his nation’s parliamentary election, although official results are not expected until the evening.
If the win is confirmed, it would mean the Labour Party will start its third consecutive term in office, beating out its traditional rival, the Nationalist Party. The election was held Saturday in the Mediterranean island nation of around 400,000 people, a member of the European Union.
“We have a clear indication that the Labour Party will have an absolute majority,” Abela told the Maltese state broadcaster. Labour had the lead in all public opinion polls before the balloting.
About 85% of eligible voters cast ballots. Normal turnout usually tops 90%.
Abela became prime minister in January 2020 after Joseph Muscat quit amid protests linked to the 2017 car bomb slaying of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who investigated corruption and ties between business interests and politicians in Malta.
Muscat had been under pressure to step down after the arrest of a prominent local businessman, Yorgen Fenech. An independent inquiry, published in July 2021, into the bombing found that the Maltese state had to “bear responsibility” for the journalist's assassination due to the culture of impunity that emanated from the highest levels of government at the time.
During the election campaign, the sale of Maltese citizenship to the wealthy came under fire amid EU sanctions against Russian oligarchs in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Nationalists called for the suspension of the sale of citizenship to Russian nationals.
Earlier this month, Abela’s government did suspend the sale to both Russian and Belarussian nationals, saying that the existing due
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