Malta’s Labour Party Wins Third Consecutive Term with Reduced Majority

Officials at the counting hall in Naxxar announced on Sunday that preliminary results gave Malta’s Labour Party victory in the snap general election held the previous day. Fireworks were set off across the island after the announcement. A sample of vote counts confirmed the governing party’s win.

Journalists following the count said the Labour Party secured a comfortable parliamentary majority, though narrower than the 55 percent share it recorded in 2022. Charles Bonello, general secretary of the opposition Nationalist Party, conceded the result on state broadcaster TVM. He said his party had nonetheless managed to reduce Labour’s majority.

4 percent, slightly higher than in 2022. Abela had called the election a year early, stating the government needed a fresh mandate to protect the import-dependent island from geopolitical crises. Malta’s economy grew 4 percent last year.

Abela campaigned on the Labour Party’s record since 2013 and pledged stability amid concerns that conflict in the Middle East could raise aviation fuel costs, affect tourism and increase inflation. His main opponent was Nationalist Party candidate Alex Borg, a 30-year-old lawyer and former Mr World Malta contest winner.

Abela has led Malta since 2020, when his predecessor resigned after a political crisis linked to the 2017 killing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

A 2025 Council of Europe report found Malta remains behind in combating corruption, though the issue received little attention during the campaign. Located off Sicily, Malta is the European Union’s smallest and most densely populated member state, with roughly 550,000 residents in 316 square kilometres.

Its economy relies primarily on tourism, online gaming and financial services, and it maintains one of the bloc’s lowest unemployment rates.