PL wins EP election, majority slashed / Malta News Briefing – Sunday 9 June 2024

Updated 1300

The Labour Party has won the European Parliament elections, but with a significantly reduced majority that is likely to result in the loss of their fourth seat, according to vote-counting projections by the political parties.

Votes are still being tallied, but party projections indicate that the gap between PL and PN will be less than 20,000 votes. Sources from both major parties indicate that the gap is expected to shrink to around 15,000 votes. If these projections are confirmed, the gap between the two main parties will narrow to about four percent, contrary to most pre-election polls.

As expected, Roberta Metsola (PN) and Alex Agius Saliba (PL) appear to be front runners for the first two MEP spots.

Morning Briefing

Euro elections’ result expected today

Malta is expected to know its six Members of the European Parliament today, with vote scanning expected to start at 9am, with parties expected to have high-level indications of the result around an hour later. During today, European election votes will be counted. Local council hopefuls will have to wait longer, with counting to begin as from Wednesday. A total of 370,184 people were registered to vote in the European Parliament elections, according to the Electoral Register, but some 10% of these votes were not collected. Voter turnout for the EP elections was just short of 73%. Voting for the local councils was even less, at 59.47%.

Serial burglar arrested in Naxxar

A serial burglar was apprehended in Naxxar on Friday following a police chase, shortly after breaking into a residence.
Police reported that the 52-year-old suspect from Naxxar is believed to have committed at least 12 other burglaries.
The suspect was detained at police headquarters and appeared in court on Saturday morning, facing charges before Magistrate Monica Vella. (Times of Malta)

32-year-old critical in Comino swimming incident

A 32-year-old woman is in critical condition after encountering difficulties while swimming near Comino. Police reported that around 1:00 PM on Saturday, they received a call for assistance. The young Chinese woman was helped by the Emergency Response and Rescue Corps before being transported to Gozo General Hospital. She was later certified as being in a critical state. (Maltatoday)