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

On 9 March 2008, the Maltese sat through the final count of the Malta 2008 general election, one of the most closely contested elections in the country’s political history. The voting itself had taken place on 8 March. Early celebrations from the Labour side on Sunday morning faded as it became clear that the narrow margin made it too early to call. After a long wait on Sunday, as the samples and first-count picture sharpened, the Nationalist Party’s win became clear. The fin

On 21 February 2011, Malta suddenly found itself at the centre of one of the most dramatic early moments of the Libyan uprising. That afternoon, two Libyan Air Force fighter pilots flew their Mirage F1 jets to Malta and landed at Luqa, saying they had refused orders to bomb protesters in Libya. Maltese officials said the pilots told authorities they had been ordered to attack anti-government demonstrators, and one of them requested political asylum. The two pilots were report

At midnight on 1 January 2008 , the Maltese lira officially ceased to be the country’s currency, replaced by the euro after more than three decades as the unit of an independent state. The moment was marked by a simple withdrawal of the first euro banknotes from an ATM in Valletta. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech and Central Bank Governor Michael C. Bonello were among those present as Malta crossed the threshold into the euro area. The three were