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Malta's election officials confirm Nationalists' victory in hard-fought election
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| Contributor | Scott³ |
| Last Edited | Scott³ Mar 25, 2008 04:04pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Monday, March 10, 2008 10:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | AP article.
An excerpt...
"Malta's election officials said Monday that the island's long-ruling Nationalist Party had narrowly won a parliamentary election.
Election officials said the Nationalist Party of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had 49.3 percent of the vote, compared to the opposition Labor Party's 48.8 percent and had won by some 1,500 votes.
The announcement prompted Labor, which had hoped for a return to power after a decade, to finally concede defeat after one of the tightest elections since the former British colony gained independence in 1964.
Saturday's election was so close that both parties had refused to claim victory until the Nationalists said they had won late Sunday.
The announcement brought supporters pouring on to the streets of the tiny Mediterranean island, waving party flags and honking horns. The celebrations lasted through the night and were expected to continue Monday.
The election was the first since Malta joined the European Union in 2004 and the euro zone earlier this year.
Gonzi, 54, said throughout the campaign that he had done a good job modernizing this island of 400,000 people, located between Sicily and North Africa, and deserved to continue in post.
Labor leader Alfred Sant, 60, ran an anti-corruption campaign and urged the Maltese to vote for change.
The island nation has been run by the Nationalists since 1987, except for 22 months between 1996 and 1998 when Labor was in power and Sant was the prime minister." |
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