Delegates of the Malta Labour Party have started to vote to elect a successor to Alfred Sant.

The election for the sixth leader of the MLP has been the most contested in the party’s history with five candidates vying for the post – George Abela, Evarist Bartolo, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, Michael Falzon, and Joseph Muscat.

Prior to the start of voting, party president Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi on behalf of the delegates thanked Charles Mangion for his service as Acting Leader. One of the delegates said the election candidates should be asked to sign a declaration that the electoral process was fair, so that no one would complain afterwards. Electoral Commission chairman Joe Falzon said the candidates were involved throughout the process and he could not see how anyone could say that there was any sort of irregularity.

The voting was then opened by four of the candidates who cast the first ballots as party delegates. Dr Abela, who is a member of the party but not a delegate, was present with the four.

Voting will continue for three hours and a result is expected at around midnight. Should no candidate achieve a majority of over 50%, a second round will be held tomorrow among the top two candidates.

Polls have put Dr Muscat in pole position, followed by Dr Abela. However observers said that should Dr Muscat not win at least 40% of the votes today, his chances of emerging victorious tomorrow will be considerably less, with most of the votes of the remaining three candidates expected to go to Dr Abela.

The delegates vote for the party’s deputy leaders next week.