Scuffle breaks out at counting hall

A scuffle broke out at the Naxxar vote counting hall at about 11 last night, shattering the calm of what had otherwise been a quiet, if tiring day.

The circumstances of the incident, behind the perspex of Table Six, were not immediately clear although it appeared that it involved a PL request for a recount of 33 votes. The recount was carried and nothing awry was found.

Between 40 and 60 policemen quickly rushed in to separate Labour and Nationalist supporters. PL president Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi was among those seen trying to calm down supporters.

Calm was restored after a few minutes but then two separate arguments broke out further down the corridor, the most serious one stemming from an insistence by a Labour representative that filming by NET TV should stop. Those involved were also quickly calmed down, with Labour MP Carmelo Abela blaming these incidents on fatigue having its toll on the people involved.