Robert Abela is Malta's next prime minister in landslide victory

Robert Abela is Malta's next prime minister in a landslide victory over Chris Fearne.

The official result when all votes have been counted show that Abela secured 57.9% of the vote, against Fearne's 42.1%.

Labour deputy leader Chris Cardona called it for Abela in a Facebook post, halfway through the counting process when it was clear that Abela's lead was unassailable. Abela ended up with 2,544 more votes than Fearne.

Abela will deliver his first speech as Labour leader on Sunday at the close of the party congress that will be held at Kordin sports pavillion at 4pm.

He is expected to be sworn in as prime minister on Monday.

Earlier

Ballot boxes from the 13 districts have been coming in to the Labour Party headquarters

Labour Party members voted on Saturday to elect Joseph Muscat's successor. Polls closed at 8pm. 58.3% of paid-up members had voted by 2pm. The final voting turnout showed that 92.5% of the 17,500 members eligible to vote cast their ballot. This amounted to around 16,200 of paid members.

Chris Fearne casting his vote at the Fgura party club

Robert Abela cast his vote at the Qormi party club at 9.20am

Labour CEO Randolph Debattista said on ONE TV that this turnout was higher than the one for the Nationalist Party contest that saw PN members electing Adrian Delia as PN leader. This despite the Labour leadership election having more rigid rules as to who is eligible to vote, such as requiring at least a five-year membership to the PN's two. 

There is a convivial atmosphere inside the Labour Party headquarters as agents for both candidates are taking photographs with one another and contributing to a mood of camraderie. 

Polling stations at 13 PL clubs - one in each electoral district - opened at 8am. Vote counting is taking place at PL headquarters in Hamrun after all ballot boxes arrive. The results are expected later tonight, possibly in the early hours of Sunday.

Around 30 media houses, including Reuters, BBC, and Al Jazeera have been granted access to cover the event.

Counting agents for both candidates have taken their place behind the perspex as the ballot boxes started coming in. 

Joseph Muscat voted in Naxxar at 10am, where he was greeted by well-wishers outside the party club. Deputy prime minister Chris Fearne voted in Fgura. Labour MP Robert Abela voted at the Qormi party club at 9.20 am. That district also covers Siggiewi and Luqa.

Labour members out in the pelting rain to vote for Muscat’s successor

Lydia Abela, PL executive secretary and wife of Robert Abela, meets voters outside the Fgura club

READ ALSO: MaltaToday survey | Very tight race sees Robert Abela edge ahead

Out at the hustings

Robert Abela and Chris Fearne

We spoke to some of the voters outside the Teatro Rialto in Bormla and the Labour Centre in Fgura, where supporters from both camps stood outside after they submitted their vote. 

Most voters we spoke to said that they did not have any particular preference between Robert Abela and Chris Fearne, adding that whoever is elected will hopefully retain the big majority wins that Muscat had guaranteed. 

This despite some palpable tension outside the Rialto, where Abela's supporters and Fearne's supporters stood on opposite sides of the voting station. 

Abela's wife Lydia, along with her sister Alison Zerafa Civelli, Bormla Mayor, were seen entering the Rialto at around 3pm to submit their vote. Abela was greeted by applause from a majority of the eligible voters outside the building. 

Lydia Abela was later seen at the Fgura Labour club, though she wasn't received with the earlier enthusiasm. Fgura is the voting station for the 4th district, including Paola, a Chris Fearne hotbed. 

"The important thing is that whoever gets elected will continue to give a continuous trashing to the Nationalist Party," one Labour member said.

Another in Bormla said that if whoever is elected followed Muscat's footsteps, "not only would he guarantee a majority but an even bigger one." 

Some claimed to have been uncertain till the very end as to who to vote for, adding that both Fearne and Abela were leader material.

Muscat resignation

The election was made necessary after Muscat announced that he would be stepping down in December in the aftermath of damning court testimony that implicated his former chief of staff Keith Schembri in Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder.

Muscat admitted the exit was not what he hoped for amid mounting protests demanding his immediate resignation. He claimed that he “paid the highest price” in leaving as he did.

Muscat’s landslide, back-to-back, electoral triumphs in the midst of great economic success contrasted heavily with a Prime Minister who at the end of 2019 was met with a barrage of eggs, vegetables, and sonorous boos every time he exited parliament. The murder of Caruana Galizia cast an indelible stain on Muscat and his administration.

READ ALSO: Labour’s winning streak: Joseph Muscat’s 10 election victories

This paved the way for a two-way contest featuring Fearne and Abela who both evinced a strong and competitive desire to lead during their separate campaigns.

The new leader will not only captain the Labour Party but will also become prime minister and lead Malta’s thirteenth legislature.

Early voting took place last Wednesday.

Who is the favourite to win?

Chris Fearne’s campaign had its controversial moments. Fearne raised eyebrows when he mocked the Nationalist Party at a time when national unity and sobriety were expected.

“In 2008, I vowed and — today, I’ll do the same with you as my witnesses — that the Nationalists will not govern for as long as I live. When I die, they could write on my grave that the PN were never elected. Instead of RIP, they could write RIPN,” he had said during a political event in Paola.

A few days later, his opponent, Robert Abela, filed a vote tampering complaint. He claimed that unauthorised persons had added people to the list of eligible voters. The PL’s electoral commission ruled out the possibility of tampering after investigating Abela's complaint.

Despite the false steps and the non-optimal delivery, Fearne started the campaign way ahead of his rival. However, a MaltaToday survey held among PL members on 2 and 3 January, put Fearne’s support at 55.4% against Abela’s 44.6%.

Abela gained ground throughout the campaign and cut the gap further. It is understood that Abela's popularity continued to grow after the Xarabank interview last week.

Who is Chris Fearne?

Fearne has been active within the PL since his youth but he acquired political visibility when Muscat became Labour leader in 2008. At the time, Fearne addressed a protest meeting against the rising cost of living.

From then on, Fearne has been on the rise as a politician, winning his first election in 2013 and getting elected into parliament. Appointed first as a parliamentary secretary for health in 2014, the Panama Papers scandal which saw Konrad Mizzi’s health and energy portfolio taken away, saw Fearne take his place as health minister.

In a race for deputy leader for parliamentary affairs where he was the dark horse, Fearne beat Edward Scicluna and Helena Dalli for the role.

His swift scaling of the political ladder in the last few years under Muscat’s administration saw Fearne take some strong decisions, especially when he asked the Auditor General to probe the multi-million hospitals concession deal with Vitals Global Healthcare brokered by Mizzi, who he slowly distanced himself from.

Fearne has promised for justice to be done without fear or favour and ruled out a return to cabinet for Mizzi. His campaign has been characterised by a call for rectitude and a no-nonsense approach. He has banked on his experience in government, roping in the support of Cabinet members.

Who is Robert Abela?

Robert Abela is, comparatively, a newcomer: his political foray can be traced back to a PL meeting before the 2013 general election, delivering a hard-hitting speech against then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

This was a time when Gonzi had appointed Abela’s father, George Abela, as president. Gonzi’s decision was unprecedented at the time when he appointed a president from the opposing political camp.

Abela’s veritable political career took off in 2017 when he accepted to contest the general election. While he was elected, he refused an offer to join the cabinet as a parliamentary secretary, choosing instead to pursue his legal career, which included a retainer with the Planning Authority.

Besides this, Abela was also appointed as an advisor to Muscat with a right to attend cabinet meetings, while his name often cropped up as Muscat’s possible successor.

His campaign has promised a return to Labour’s ideological roots. Abela has ruled out a Cabinet post for Konrad Mizzi and pledged continuity while making the necessary changes to strengthen good governance. His was a simple, people's campaign that tugged at the heartstrings of the party hard core.