Labour Party delegates yesterday voted for the MLP's administration in a hotly-contested election which saw Jason Micallef fight to hold on to his post of general secretary.
The result was due around 2 a.m., after a glitch with the Gozo ferry caused an unexpected delay as it developed engine trouble. Vehicles and passengers had to be transferred to another ferry. The delay led to the ballot boxes being opened just after midnight.
Although voting in Gozo ended at 7.45 p.m., the ballots arrived at the party headquarters in Ħamrun at around 11.15 p.m.
The post for secretary general was contested by the incumbent - Jason Micallef, headmaster Alfred Grixti, economist Joe Vella Bonnici and former deputy general secretary Keith Grech.
The delegates also voted for the posts of president, vice president, financial secretary, international secretary and education secretary.
Current president Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi and former education secretary and one of the founders of Alternattiva Demokratika Wenzu Mintoff contested the post of president.
Louis Gatt re-contested the post of vice president together with Msida mayor Alexander Sciberras while Jeffrey Camilleri, Frans Chircop, Joseph Cordina and Tommy Dimech contested the post of financial secretary. Joe Mifsud, former Foreign Affairs Minister Alex Sciberras Trigona and Lorna Vassallo vied for the post of international secretary while veteran party activist and former Fgura mayor Anthony Degiovanni, Labour youth activist Aaron Farrugia, who was extensively involved in the Joseph Muscat leadership campaign, contested the post of education secretary.
There was no election for the post of public relations secretary because only the incumbent Ray Azzopardi contested.
The candidates who obtained the highest number of votes were elected, as opposed to an absolute majority as in the case for the party leadership.
The post of general secretary was the most hotly contested, with high-level party officials speaking out against Mr Micallef and others sticking up for him. Both former deputy leader Michael Falzon and former general secretary Jimmy Magro urged delegates to vote for other contestants.
An anonymous email circulated just hours before the election carried a photo of Mr Micallef with party leader Joseph Muscat with a caption reading that the party needs a general secretary who is loyal to the leader, rather than one who is "a lackey" of the Nationalist Party it continued, under a photo showing Mr Grixti with Nationalist TV presenter Pierre Portelli during an interview on Net TV.
In the last election in 2003, Mr Micallef was elected with 271 of the 862 valid votes, while Mr Grixti, the runner-up, netted 252 votes.
The extraordinary general conference will continue this evening with the election for the 10 seats on the party's executive council and will discuss how the party picks its candidates for the MEP elections due next year.