[LIVE] Gonzi summons Cabinet, parliamentary group after historic referendum

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15:30 We're closing this blog now... all news will be carried on the website as usual.

12:25 PN MPs start to arrive at Dar Centrali for parliamentary group meeting summoned by Prime Minister and party leader Lawrence Gonzi.

08:30 Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has summoned his Cabinet at Castille this morning, to be followed by a PN Parliamentary Group to discuss the outcome of yesterday's divorce referendum result.

 - Sunday 29 May -

19:53 Moviment Iva chairperson addresses the media, says that Malta is "today as European as it was yesterday", it just embraced it ..

18:55 Read what the Opposition leader had to say following the results of the referendum.

18:16 Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando's comments following Moviment Iva's press conference.

FULL RESULTS: Float your mouse over the bars to see how each district polled,and how many voted yes and no...

13:14  Joseph Muscat will be holding a Press conference at 14:00hrs.  He is expected to refer to the fact that Labour voters who intended to vote NO stayed at home and opted not to vote at all. This appears to have materialised after his appeal in the last days directed at the heart of the core Labour vote.

12:12 Iva's Michael Falzon:  "I'm convinced the law will pass and that there will be no manouevres from MPs... very unhappy about Church's apology. This is a victory for democracy. In Mgr Charles Vella's words, Chiesa Libera Stato Libera."

12:02 Arthur Galea Salomone says he did not read the Bishop's apology yesterday. He refused to disclose the sources who funded the Zwieg Bla Divorzju movement.

11:45 Former Air Malta chairman and Misco pollster Lawrence Zammit says polls always indicated 'yes' victory, but Labour sources say it was Opposition leader's clarion call after Tuesday that inspired Labour 'no' voters to stay inside.

11:42 Karl Stagno-Navarra says Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has called Pullicino Orlando to congratulate him on the victory.

11:39  Comments from Nationalist councillor and pro-divorce campaigner Cyrus Engerer: "Satisfied with sampling result which shows a win for the 'YES' vote. This is a win which gives the Maltese the right to choice, the right to a new life. This places Malta on an equal level with the European Union". He was also satisfied the YES vote dominated in Sliema, his district.

Julia Farrugia's earlier interivew with Deborah Schembri bef

11:34 Arthur Galea Salomone: "The people's decision is clear and the decision should be respected. Our role was to inform the public and we have fulfilled that role."

11:32 Alternattiva Demokratika's Michael Briguglio: "Not happy with a campaign that was conducted with crusades from the Church. I hope for a mature parliamentary debate."

11:22 Prime Minister's statement:

I wish to thank people on both sides of the debate which showed its maturity... this was a referendum where civil society played the major role.

This referendum is a historic choice for our future... now is the time to move ahead.

The result in favour of divorce is not the result I wanted but now we will see that the will of the majority is executed and a divorce law is enacted. This won't be an easy process, it is not an easy change... there will be MPs who will abstain or vote against.

Family will become even more central to this government's policy.

10:57 Labour have called it a 'yes' victory | MaltaToday surveys vindicated - Evarist Bartolo's first comments: "It's a new dawn for a more tolerant Malta."

10:47 It's a definite yes of the Sliema '10th district' (which includes St Julian's and Gzira) over the no.

10:44 12th district prevails with Yes in first 40 batches. Localities are St Paul's Bay, Mellieha and other mainly PN localities.

10:40 Sliema seems strong on yes vote, while agents are seeing a 3-1 to 4-1 victory for the no vote in Gozo.

10:23 Here is a vote counting chit from a PN agent, the district is Gozo.

10:15 First samples from 10th district (which includes Sliema) indicate victory of win vote.

10:14 Gozo is clearly emerging as an outright NO according to first observations, while 8th district - where Beppe Fenech Adami is feeding data - is crucial for the no vote. Karl Stagno Navarra says observers are looking at anything above 75% no votes in Gozo.

09:57 In the counting hall: DJ Pierre Cordina and Mireille Bonello, anti-divorce celeb couple, at the counting hall.

09:51 Real estate entrepreneur Sara Grech is at the counting hall with Iva Ghaz-Zwieg, Iva Ghad-Divorzju.

09:46 Top level party sources: Gozo could tilt the balance with its overwhelming NO vote, but sorting monitors claim Malta will clinch YES vote.

09:44 From the counting hall: Michael Fenech Adami joins his brother, MP Beppe Fenech Adami at the counting hall; former Air Malta chairman and owner of Misco pollsters Lawrence Zammit is seen accompanying Stock Exchange chairman Arthur Galea Salomone, the figurehead of Zwieg Bla Divorzju.

09:35 Just uploaded the new Flickr slideshow for today's counting hall scenes.

09:00 Here's how the official turnout looks in a bar chart on Google Docs.

08:32 It took 720 calculators and counting assistants to empty the ballot boxes and placing the ballot papers face down in batches of 50.

08:23  First indications show that Labour voters who were expected to vote No may have chosen not to vote at all.

08:13  Parties are started to monitor the votes as they are placed face down and relaying voting preferences.  Both parties already have an indication of voting preferences on some districts but they are keeping mum about exact percentages. 

06:32 Counting is expected to start at 10am after all votes are placed face down.  But parties will be attempting to read votes before that by trying to count votes as papers are placed faced down.  MaltaToday.com.mt will bring you the latest by the minute

22:33 Electoral Commission says that voter turnout stands at 72% with lowest turnout in 12 district.

22:29 Voting is closed, although pro-divorce lobby asked for an hour's extension after an apology by the Maltese bishops.

18:51 Voting turnout is picking up ahead of Champions League final between Manchester Utd and Barcelona.

18:29 VOTING GOES ON UNTIL 10pm

17:17 Party agents and AECs have reported a low turnout amongst young voters, emphasising the visibility of the grey vote in this referendum.

16:50 Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando is in Zebbug voting. Here he is with his children.

16:37 ksnavarra JPO on his way to vote in Zebbug #divorcemalta

16:16 Can you read German? MaltaToday is mentioned in this piece on Der Spiegel's Panorama.

Official turnout at 2pm is 34% with the highest (39%) in the first district of Valletta and the Three Cities (39%), lowest is in Gozo (30%). For full data float your mouse over the bars below.

14:43 Just spotted this short report on Al Jazeera English on the referendum... AJE couldn't resist carrying a pic of the Prime Minister with Pope Benedict.

12:39 MaltaToday is informed that the Commissioner of Police has telephoned Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando to say the police is looking into the alleged abusive pressure made on elderly voters by a carer in Mellieha.

12:08 Karl Stagno-Navarra, who was at the Mellieha polling station, says that a group of elderly were gathered in the main hall of the station, some of them wheelchair-bound, with their voting documents in the possession of the matron of their home.

"Rather than reading the referendum question to them, she asked them 'Do you want to divorce?' (Inthom tridu tiddovrzjaw?). Consequently, objections were raised by some family members who were in the room, and the assistant electoral commissioner was alerted to the matter by Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando.

"The matron was identified as the wife of a Nationalist candidate."

In Zebbug, arch-priest Fr Daniel Cardona is accompanying the elderly to the polling stations.

11:45 More from the foreign press, this time from Deustche-Welle. Read it here.

11:40 Joseph Muscat, Labour leader, votes in Burmarrad: "Whatever the results of the referendum, the will of the majority needs to be respected. But the minority cannot be ignored."

Referring to incidents into alleged voting abuse at an old people's home in Mellieha, Muscat said he has reported the incident to the Electoral Commissioner. "Irrespectively of however one wishes to vote, everyone should be able to do so freely."

Muscat said that on Monday the parliament will be looking into other important matters. He said he will also report any cases of breaches of electoral law to those responsible.

11:35 Good question: mariocachia Will #divorcemalta trend today?

11:33 Mario Cacciottolo of BBC writes on Malta's referendum day here: "Polls suggest the referendum race is neck and neck. A result is expected on Sunday, but either result may not yet see an end to the argument."

11:31 josephmasini points out that today there's an ordination of 7 priests in Gozo, "that's why there are all those Papal Flags. Nothing to do with #divorcemalta " 

11:30 From the foreign press: The Guardian - "The recent legislative history of Malta reveals a struggle between church and state, with marriage often being used as the battleground. In 1975, when civil weddings were introduced, the church took a body-blow. It fought back in 1995 when the ecclesiastical authorities were given, in effect, a legal veto over annulments. Now, the forces of liberalism are locking horns with the powers of conservatism once again; this time, according to the prime minister, Lawrence Gonzi, the outcome of the referendum will be "irreversible". It remains to be seen what sort of future the Maltese people will choose."

And read this comment from Jessica Abrahams in The Guardian - "Figures within the church – like anyone else – have the right to clarify their position on divorce but this must be done responsibly. Whether the answer is yes or no, the outcome of the referendum must reflect what the Maltese people believe to be most beneficial to their society and not the result of what one politician apparently referred to as "spiritual terrorism".

11:21 Divorce bill promoters Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, Deborah Schembri and Evarist Bartolo are in Valletta.

11:16 Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Michael Briguglio has just cast his referendum vote in Sliema.

11:11 Moviment Zwieg Bla Divorzju representative Arthur Galea Salomone casts his vote in Rabat.

10:58 Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi casts his vote in M'scala, accompanied by Kate Gonzi and PN general secretary Paul Borg Olivier. "Now we await the decision of the people and bow our head to that decision," he said. He added that so far, the voting turnout is similar to that of the recent MEP elections.

He also says the number of uncollected votes is "in the same water" as what was registered during the EU referendum, despite the number of uncollected votes for this referendum being four times as high as those uncollected before the EU referendum.

10:32 Moviment Iva chairperson Dr Deborah Schembri casts her vote in the locality of St Paul's Bay.

10:30 President George Abela casts his vote, media allowed to take pictures. He did not stay to give comments, however.

10:20 Police prohibit media from taking picture of Deborah Schembri casting referendum vote in St Paul's Bay.

10:00 Reports surfacing of residents at old peoples home in Mellieha asked if they wanted divorce before voting by supervisor. Electoral Commissioner on location admits he witnessed abuse and intervened.

8:00 All media are being prohibited by police from reporting or filming within 50 metres of a voting building.

7:30  Archbishop Paul Cremona is among the first to cast his vote in the divorce referendum in Atttard's primary school, the locality's only voting station.