In the early hours of 10 March 2013, Malta learned the result of the 2013 Malta general election, one of the most decisive elections in the country’s modern political history. The Labour Party, led by Joseph Muscat, defeated the governing Nationalist Party under Lawrence Gonzi by 36,000 votes, securing a commanding parliamentary majority and ending fifteen years of Nationalist rule. Voting had taken place the day before, but the counting process started through the night at t