UPDATED: Muscat three votes short of Labour leadership

(Adds confirmation of result, comment by Joseph Muscat)

Joseph Muscat came just three votes short of winning the Labour Party leadership tonight and will face a run-off against George Abela today. The result was declared official at 1 a.m. The MLP statute provides that the party leader needs the support of the majority of the delegates.

Dr Muscat in a first reaction said: "The game is not over and I am ready for the second round, but the result is even better than I expected".

The youngest and the oldest candidates won the most votes at the end of the keenly-contested two month contest and in terms of party rules the other candidates – Marie-Louise Coleiro, Michael Falzon and Evarist Bartolo have now been eliminated.

A total of 879 votes were cast of which five were invalid, meaning candidates needed to win 438 votes to be declared elected with an absolute majority.

George Abela won 200 votes, Evarist Bartolo 32 votes, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca 26, Michael Falzon 181 and Joseph Muscat 435.

The result means that the next leader of the Labour Party will not be a serving MP and a member of the Labour parliamentary group will have to give up his seat to enable co-option. That had also happened in the 1980s when then labour-designate Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici had to be co-opted to the House.

Sixteen years ago, delegates also had to vote twice before Alfred Sant emerged victorious in what had started as a three-way contest also involving Lino Spiteri and Joe Brincat.

Voting took place over a period of three hours with the candidates commenting about the calm atmosphere.

Dr Muscat said soon after he cast his vote that he felt serene. “I think I did my best and whoever is elected as leader, I believe, will be a choice for the good of the party. Judging by the mood here tonight, beyond the sound bites we give the press, following this contest I believe there will be a united Labour Party that will look to the future.”

Dr Abela said he was positive about his prospects and similarly commented that he felt calm. He said there was a serene mood among the delegates, which, he said, was quite something considering that the MLP has just suffered an election defeat. He said the mood among the delegates was that they expected a united team to move the party forward after the contest.

“That is what they expect, and that is what they deserve,” Dr Abela said.

Michael Falzon admitted he felt excited but said he was not making any forecasts.

Evarist Bartolo said the mood was "very different" from that of five years when Dr Sant was contested for the leadership. "There is less tension, the feeling is much calmer, this bodes well for the future." He said the difference was possibly the result of more open debate during the campaign. He did not comment about his prospects but said he found the election process exciting and enjoyable and whatever the outcome, he would not regret having contested.

Marie-Louise Coleiro-Preca said she was calm. "I have done my best, let the process take its course" she said.

Former MLP leader Alfred Sant cast his vote at about 8.15 p.m. He did not comment and immediately left party headquarters. His predecessor Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici cast his vote a short time later. Dom Mintoff, a delegate for life, did not turn up.