Malta's ruling Nationalists re-elected

Malta's conservative Nationalist Party, in power in the tiny Mediterranean state for most of the past two decades, has won re-election in the country's closest ever polls, beating traditional rival Labour by less than one percent of the vote. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, who presided over the country's entry into the European Union in 2004, is expected to pursue his pro-EU and open economic policies in the archipelago of some 400,000 people.

Deputy Labour leader Michael Falzon conceded defeat after a marathon vote tally finally gave the Nationalists an edge of 1,542 votes in the early hours of Monday, more than 24 hours after polls closed on Saturday.

It was the Nationalists' third consecutive victory over Labour, their perpetual rival since independence from Britain in 1964. The Nationalist Party won 49.3 percent of the vote, followed by 48.8 percent for Labour, 1.3 percent for the green Democratic Alternative, 0.5 percent for the right-wing National Action and 0.1 percent for independent candidates, according to unofficial results.

Nearly 300,000 people voted in the cliffhanger polls, which enjoyed a turnout of some 93 percent -- actually on the low side in the politically polarised nation. Most voters are staunchly loyal to one or the other of the two main parties, which are both near the centre of the political spectrum. About half of Malta's population turned out last Thursday for twin rallies staged by the two main parties to cap the five-week election campaign.

In the hard-fought election campaign, Gonzi, 54, ran on economic achievements, while his challenger, Labour Party leader Alfred Sant, 60, pushed an anti-corruption platform. After a 2003 campaign dominated by the issue of EU membership -- the Nationalists wanted full status while Labour advocated a partnership accord -- domestic issues came to the fore this year including taxes, health care, education and the environment.

The Gonzi government has reined in Malta's budget deficit from 10 percent of gross domestic product in 2004 to just 1.6 percent in 2007, when the island nation enjoyed GDP growth of 4.3 percent, twice the EU average.