[WATCH] Candidates vote in Labour deputy leadership election

Candidates vote in Labour deputy leadership election

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici, Economy Minister Chris Cardona and former PL president Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi have voted in the election for Labour's new deputy leader for party affairs.

The three candidates voted together shortly after midday.

A total of 763 delegates are eligible to vote at the polling station at the party's headquarters, which will be open until 8pm today. Delegates in Gozo are voting at the party's club in Rabat, which will remain open until 5pm.

As soon as the voting closes in Gozo, the box will be brought to Malta, and as soon as the voting in Malta closes at 8pm, the reconciliation of votes will start.

The new deputy leader must achieve a majority of 50 plus 1.

Observers believe that the race is tight and a runoff is expected for tomorrow. In the eventuality that a runoff takes place tomorrow, delegates will be asked once again to choose from the two most popular candidates.

Although an independent poll has shown Cardona and Bonnici almost neck and neck, with Bonnici leading, observers have commented on the "volatility" of such an election and several noted that Zrinzo Azzopardi was not to be underestimated.

All three candidates have repeated that the delegates would be at the heart of their work, acknowledging that the party needed to get closer to its faithful.

Labour leader Joseph Muscat yesterday made it clear that the party knew where it was heading to, and it was time for the movement to get back in sync with the government. Muscat also insisted on the importance of "building bridges" with the wider society and has repeatedly spoke against the risk of a party building barriers.