LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Maltese Labour leader Robert Abela declared victory and confirmed that the Labour Party won with a big margin of votes. He declared victory in a telephone interview on the national broadcaster TVM.
Abela spoke of an “absolute majority.” This is his first mandate to lead Malta as Prime Minister.
Abela, 44, a lawyer, is expected to be sworn in to lead the 14th legislature on Monday and will then form his new government for a five-year mandate.
Nationalist Party Leader Bernard Grech conceded the election and called Labour leader to congratulate him for the victory.
According to early data announced on the Labour Party’s television station, early projections based on 10,000 votes, or 3% of the votes cast give Labour some 55% of the vote compared to the Nationalist’s Party 42%.
In 2017, Labour had scored a landslide victory, winning 55.04% of the vote which gave it a 35,280 vote majority.
The official turnout for this year’s election is 85.5%, the lowest turnout Malta has seen since gaining independence.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta is voting today to decide which political party will rule the country for the next five years. Voters started casting their votes across the country as polling stations opened at 7am and will close at 10pm. The President of Malta George Vella and his wife Miriam casted their vote in ?ejtun late on Saturday morning. Maltese Prime Minister and Labour Party Leader Robert Abela together with his wife Lydia voted earlier in Marsascala. Abela did not give any comments to the journalists. The Leader of the Opposition and Nationalist Party Leader Bernard Grech voted in Mosta. He was accompanied by his wife Annmarie and their two children who also casted their vote. In a brief comment to the journalists, Grech thanked all voters who will be participating in the democratic process, and said he hoped that election officials carry out their duties diligently to guarantee a “free and fair” election and ensure there is no repeat of the irregularities which took place last week in the early voting in prison. “It is important to have a fair election to allow the people to vote serenely for the next government.” The centre-right party leader added that voters who want to see change have the opportunity to vote the Nationalist Party. 16 and 17 year olds are allowed to vote for the first time, taking the number of eligible voters from 341,856 in 2017 to 355,075. More than 14,000 voting documents were not collected, and this point towards a lower turnout than previous elections. Polls have indicated that the turnout will be around 88%, which would be the lowest since 1955.
Malta will make use of an electronic counting system for the first time. This means that the winner will be declared on Sunday morning with the official results expected to be published later in the evening.
The final polls published ahead of today’s vote predict the Labour Party will win a third consecutive mandate despite a series of scandals but thanks to the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the financial support to businesses. A majority of between 26,000 and 39,000 votes is expected in favour of the Labour Party but this will depend on the turnout and the number of valid votes cast.
This is the first general election for the Labour Party with Robert Abela as its leader. He was appointed Prime Minister in January 2020, succeeding Joseph Muscat who resigned after the arrest of businessman Yorgen Fenech, accused as the mastermind in the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in October, 2017.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – As Malta goes to the polls for a general election on Saturday, the local health authorities continued to register an increase in positive cases of Covid-19 and in patients who had to be hospitalised for medical treatment.

This led the Electoral Commission to set up three additional voting centres for people who are Covid positive or who are in mandatory quarantine. Last week the commission announced that four centres will be set up to facilitate the vote for people in isolation. To date some 4,200 voters are set to vote in the seven centres and the commission urged voters to vote early the centres will close at 10pm on Saturday like all other polling stations.

During the last 24 hours, 465 new cases were detected while 127 patients recovered from the virus. The total number of active cases increased to 3,590.

The number of positive patients referred to hospital for medical treatment also continued to increase as 77 patients are being treated for Covid-19 at Mater Dei hospital, with three patients in intensive care.

Following the death of an 81-year-old woman, the total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in Malta stands at 627.

1,254,627 vaccine doses have been administered thus far, 349,561 of which are booster doses.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Five weeks of electoral campaigning came to an end last night, as Malta will vote on Saturday to elect a new government and a new parliament. The general election campaign ended with Labour Prime Minister Robert Abela addressing a huge of enthusiastic supporters during an animated event in Tà Qali while the Nationalist leader Bernard Grech made his final speech before a big crowd of supporters gathered in Valletta.
Final opinion polls envisage an electoral win for the Labour Party with a margin between 26,000 and 39,000 votes. It is also predected a low turnout of 88%, the lowest since 1955. Both leaders used their final speeches before silent day to address the undecided voters as fear mounts that there will be a lower turnout this year. A total of 14,473 voting documents were not collected, almost double that of the previous election.
Labour Leader Robert Abela stressed that staying home is not an option, and that people should go out and vote. “Let your vote be the answer. Lend me your trust for my very first mandate,” adding that he will continue building on the good foundations and bring about more reforms. “Let’s turn this dream into reality. Together with you – students, pensioners and businesses. The future is bright”, Abela said.
Opposition leader Bernard Grech said that if voters do not to want to be treated like numbers, if they want to live in country where meritocracy rules over nepotism and submission to power, if they want to be proud of their country, if people want to live in a safe country, they have only one option. That of voting PN. “Democracy is at stake” and only the Nationalist Party can offer hope of a better future. He added “Malta is once again at a crossroads, and allow me to address you as a father who doesn’t distinguish between his children. Grech said “Malta is calling us and we must realise that democracy is at stake, with a near total collapse of the country’s institutions.”
A new generation will be voting for the first time this Saturday, being the first general election in which the voting age has been lowered from 18 to 16.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta continued to register an increase in Covid-19 cases and in the number of patients referred to medical treatment at Mater Dei hospital.
The local health authorties confirmed that in the last 24 hours, 415 new cases were registered and 131 patients recovered from the virus. This brings the total number of active cases to 3.253.
Meanwhile, more patients were hospitalized for medical treatment bringing the total number of patients being treated for Covid-19 in hospital to 75. Two of the patients are being treated at the Intensive Care Unit. In the last 24 hours no deaths were registered due to coronavirus. The total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in Malta remained at 626.
1.254.115 vaccine doses have been administered thus far, 349.154 of which are booster doses.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Maltese health authorties confirmed that COVID-19 cases and patients receiving treatment while positive for coronavirus are on the increase.
The medical bulletin published on Wednesday confirms 375 new cases bringing the total number of active cases to 2,969.
Meanwhile during the last 24 hours there was an increase of 20 patients who needed medical treatment at Mater Dei hospital. 63 patients are being treated for COVID-19, while two more patients, aged 87 and 93, lost their life due to the pandemic bringing the total number of deaths to 626.
1,253,673 vaccine doses have been administered so far, 348,922 of which are booster doses.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Malta Financial Services Authority announced that more than 100 licensed firms and funds renounced their operational license since Malta was grey-listed by the Financial Action Task Force.
Maltese Finance Minister Clyde Caruana recently declined to give such information to Parliament. Prior to grey listing, the Finance Minister answered questions with all relevant details on firms who opted to close their Malta operations.
This negative trend which started in 2018, includes surrendered licenses related to operation of financial services firms, specific sub funds and SICAV companies.
Last October, an EY Malta survey revealed that Maltàs attractiveness for business reached an all-time low.
A delegation from FATF is expected to visit Malta next month to assess the government’s anti-money laundering measures and the fight against the financing of terrorism.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – LThe President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, casted her vote for the Maltese general election on Saturday morning, urging those eligibile to vote to fulfil their democratic duty and do the same. Voting a week prior to the official date, Metsola told the press at the Naxxar Counting Hall Complex that she had carried out her duty and voted, a duty which she said “was an important democratic process which our predecessors fought hard for.”
She also remarked that the Russian invasion of Ukraine shows how important it is to safeguard and defend the democratic process every single day, allowing it to function and thrive. “”It is most important that we all participate in the democratic process, especially in the light of what is happening in Ukraine, with a war that is occurring at our door. This proves that democracy should be fought for every day”. The general elections in Malta will be held on 26 March 2022.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela announced that experts from the Financial Action Task Force will be visiting Malta ahead of a plenary session schedule in June. He was addressing students as part of the general election campaign. In June 2021, the international group of anti-money laundering included Malta in the list of countries under enhanced monitoring, often referred as the “grey list,” becoming the first and only EU country to be grey listed by the FATF. Earlier this month, the FATF plenary confirmed that Malta “addressed or largely addressed the action plan at the technical level”. In an action plan agreed with the FATF, Malta made a political commitment to focus its financial intelligence capabilities on tax evasion and money laundering and increase transparency on anonymous shell companies. Maltese Prime Minister Abela said that the government managed to address the 85 points raised by the FATF over a short period of time in spite of the coronavirus pandemic. He added that after the visit which would verify if Malta implemented its anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing reforms, a plenary would be held in June. It would then be decided whether Malta would be kept on the grey list or otherwise.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Maltese health authorities continued to register an increase in COVID-19 cases for the third consecutive day. This is the first increase in two months since last January while the Maltese government continued to ease the restrictions in public places.
In today’s medical bullettin, the health authorities announced 304 new cases and 115 recoveries, bringing the total of positive cases to 1,861.
The Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci said that the increase in positive cases shows that “the pandemic is still here” and appealed for responsability particulary during political mass events as Malta is heading to a general election on March, 26.
Covid-19 has claimed the life of an 84-year-old woman, taking the total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in Malta to 619. 50 patients are receiving treatment for Covid-19 in hospital, with one patient in intensive care.
Meanwhile, the government announced that mask wearing is no longer obligatory in outdoor public spaces. However mask wearing remained obligatory for indoor spaces such as offices and shops, and for mass events.
Malta is expecting to remove almost all preventive measures against the pandemic by the beginning of summer.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews