First PM to resign from party after losing just one general election

G Buhagiar

Mar 11th, 13:59

Il-PN bilkemm ried jemmen bit-telfa kbira li garrab. Nahseb il-Maltin taw sinjal car f'din l-elezzjoni. Kulhadd jirrikonixxi it-tajjeb li sar, imma kulhadd kien induna bl-arroganza kbira li kien hemm. Il-Maltin ma ridux jisimghu kampanja ta' insulti. Insaqsi kiku f'dawn il-5 snin inholqu 20,000 impieg, kieku in-nies li jirregistraw huma ftit. Illum hadd ma jista' jidhaq bl-intelligenza tan-nies!

A Spiteri

Mar 11th, 13:42

GRAZZI mil-qalb Dr Gonzi tal-gid kbir li hallejt lil dan il-pajjiz. Hallejt pajjiz b'ekonomija b'sahhita biex il-gvern gdid Laburista ikun jista jibda jahdem minghajr problemi. Tant hadem ghal-pajjiz li l-ewwel ra lil-pajjiz ul-poplu Malti qabel il-partit tieghu meta baqa jiggieled fl-EU biex gab pakket finanzzjarju minkejja li kien jaf li se jitlef l-elezzjoni. Dr Gonzi hu Statista Kbir

j brincat

Mar 11th, 13:12

But which PM was defeated by such a massive magnitude?

How could he possibly stay on?

Simon should follow suit!


jb

Victor Vella

Mar 11th, 12:24

Tghid issa se jmur jahdem il-qorti miskin Gonzi? Min jaf. U Toninu Fenek se jmur accountant? Jew forsi jiftah azjenda ta` l-arloggi tal-lira?. Min jaf. Jew jintefa` mangia passiga u filghaxija pero irid immur il-parlament inkella ma jithallas. Dik serjeta.

Raymond Fenech

Mar 11th, 11:35

If any one thinks that now that PL are in Government all corruption and double talking is over you're in for a huge disappointment. The parochail group will change from blue to red and we will soon be back to the old routine. As long as politicians remain mercenaries, there is no hope for this beautiful country. What politicians do they do for power and money not for country.

Malcolm Mifsud

Mar 11th, 11:23

Fenech Adami lost the 1996 election, said that he would resign if defeated but led the party when the 1998 election was called.

Gustav Svensson

Mar 11th, 08:35

Gonzis big misstake was that he was not able to tackle the corruption. As a maltese friend says, nothing gets done without a brown envelope´. Gonzi also did not manage to tell the maltese that not much things can be better in the future, it's more a matter of less worse. Online gaming will decrease the footprint in Malta and the same goes with Financial services..

Charles Bugeja

Mar 11th, 06:58

Imma l-iktar vili fil press conference kien Lou Bondi li qal lil Dr Gonzi li qala tkaxkira - wiehed milli jahti ghat tkaxkira hu Lou Bondi stess ghal affarijiet tal misthija li ghamel - l-ahhar tkun il-kaz ta Dapne Caruana Galizia

Victor Vella

Mar 11th, 03:33

Strictly speaking Gonzi lost even the 2008 election. Some nationalists argue that the last 5years were stolen by the PN because they did not get the absolute majority of votes casted in that election. They only get the relative majority of votes thanks to Sant`s amendments to the constitution in 1998 when labour won in 1996 with the majority of votes getting only a difference of one seat in parla.

Pippo de Marco

Mar 10th, 20:45

This defeat is all YOUR fault. YOU were an electoral liability, but you ignored what people were saying, and in your typical 'I know best' manner, YOU drove the party to electoral humiliation from which it will take years to recover.

You are a vain and selfish man who deserves the contempt that the electorate has shown you. No excuses, because there are none. Now go quietly and remain so.

Tony Zammit

Mar 10th, 20:36

Il-buzulotta tal-arriva li eluf ta nies ikollom ihabbtu wicchom maghhom kuljum

L Zammit

Mar 10th, 20:21

I think Dr Gonzi was one of the best prime ministers of Malta. He fell victim of a heavy character assasination programme that did not do justice to his performances. Too much venom was directed towards him until PL's was achieved. Issa qed tinqaleb id-diska dwaru; l-ewwel ma bdiet Maria Camilleri fuq TVM.

Chris Pace

Mar 10th, 20:05

Its NOT about the economy, stupid.....

V Caruana

Mar 10th, 19:25

Il-PN ilu jġħid li Muscat wiegħed TERREMOT u qatt ma wasal.
Wasal ISSA u qawwa ta' 35,000

josephine cauchi

Mar 10th, 18:34

What a reality check record breaking landslide win .

Rich Natsud

Mar 10th, 18:28

He has done a Lot of Positives where other Failed ,look around us in Europe , In my opinion its right for the Party so that the Party will have a younger Leader for the next Election ,

Rich Natsud

Mar 10th, 18:21

Gonzi, has done a lot during 5 years of international crisis (recession & Libya war), certain ministers failed without accepting this failure and being irresponable for their acts..of which should have resigned. Normal citizen voters had minor clashes with Mepa, hunters etc , the PL campaign focused on these hurts including electricity bills and marketed the new Voters on their ground..the WEB.

J Micallef

Mar 10th, 18:11

He's not resigning, he won't seek relection to Party leadership. Technically different.

Other leaders have offered resignation but were reelected.

V Mercieca

Mar 10th, 17:56

When Gonzi ran the race for leadership alone, I wrote in one of the blogs, that if the delegates will re-elect him, history would repeat itself as it did with Alfred Sant
You remember when Alfred Sant resigned as leader than suddenly changed his mind and re-contested the race and won, only to loose the following election
Same happened with Gonzi, he was confirmed leader and lost the election.

D Zarb

Mar 10th, 17:55

Gonzi had it coming. If he had the guts to call it a day when his party started crumbing than the PN would not have suffered such a HISTORIC never seen before defeat. Its his fault all the way through. Thanks God he did not win.

Joseph Borg

Mar 10th, 17:45

I am very sorry to say but the outcome of this election is the result of a stubborn prime minister who did not have the courage to take action against unprofessional ministers and their disastereous proejcts (Arriva, Mater Dei, Energy, etc). It's a shame that PN lost this election with such a huge vote difference.

Victor Laiviera

Mar 10th, 17:37

Lawrence Gonzi did not just lose one election. He lost two MEP elections, every Local Council Election that was held on his watch and in 2008 he lost his party its overall majority and only managed to hang on to power with a minuscule relative majority of 0.5% (approx 1,500 votes). He also lost his majority in Parliament.

Karl Consiglio

Mar 10th, 17:18

Maybe he should wait a bit.

Victor Vella

Mar 10th, 17:07

GonziPN regime is now in tatters. People want good governance free from corruption, vain words and hatred. The politics of colour is no more an issue. The issue of all is to take care of the people, to listen to the people and to keep your feet on the ground without thinking to be a form of a divine or an indispensable creature of a divine kind. The PN took what they really deserve. A good lesson

Kurt Waschnig

Mar 10th, 17:01

I am full of joy. The Labour Party is the winner of the general election. And what a second good news. Mr. Gonzi is about to resign the party leadership. Labour´s victory is a landmark in Malta´s recent history. The Maltese realised there hasn´t been any progress the last 5 years. So it is natural to vote for the Labour Party. The LP has an outstanding leader, people can trust.

A. Mizzi

Mar 10th, 16:13

36,000 vote majority and 5 years of administration with a cabinet of limited talents, , with Ministers unlimited arrogance and UNLIMITED PERKS AND SALARY RISES , a year without a Parliamentary Majority .... Gonzi was long seeing it coming.... even his Back-Benchers told him so!

He just would not listen...except maybe to Austin Gatt !

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH and the results are out now !

Ramon Casha

Mar 10th, 16:06

In the previous elections it was not PN that won, but MLP that lost - due to Dr. Sant's obstinacy. If Sant had declared, following the EU referendum, that despite his personal beliefs he'd respect the will of the people, MLP would have won. After that it was the Eurozone. I think Gonzi understands this.

j brincat

Mar 10th, 15:59

"After losing just one election"

But depends what one means by 'losing' - actually it was a landslide victory the magnitude of which I have not seen in my lifetime!

jb

Joseph Camilleri

Mar 10th, 15:52

Dr Gonzi was a great leader but every leader has his weak points. In My opinion his weakest points were that he trusted a couple around him who betrayed his trust. I shall not mention names but two in particular are protagonists in this case austin gatt and dolores cristina who ruined everything that the PN lived for communication with the electorate. Both of them did not care a hoot.

Mr James Galea

Mar 10th, 15:43

The party needs a good cleanup

Tonio Bone

Mar 10th, 15:38

I'd like to register the most cordial and respectful relationship between the two leaders of Malta's leading parties since as long as I can remember. Personally I'd like to thank Dr Gonzi for his work and wish Dr Muscat good luck for taking on the responsability of running our country!

John Azzopoardi

Mar 10th, 15:34

He did the right thing..........His lack of decisive leadership on many local issues and allowing malta to accept all illegal migrants coming to our land caused him the election big time. The way the country was doing economically should have guranteed him a victory. However the lack of leadership to bring all people together caused him the loss.

B Testa

Mar 10th, 15:18

In the past we used to her PN party leaders stating that the result of an election is the result of the work in a legislature. This was especially so after the 1987 and 1998 election result. In both cases both KMB and Sant did not loose with such numbers. And this is the result of the Gonzi administration, Any other word is futile.

But he was rights as he was never a leader of the opposition.

Sharon Metcalf

Mar 10th, 15:15

Will all the Brown Nosed Maltese now have to go through the proper chanels to get what they want ?????

Joseph Mizzi

Mar 10th, 15:02

Sincere thanks to Dr Lawrence Gonzi for your hard work and dedication to our beloved country for the past 9 years.

P. Zammit

Mar 10th, 14:12

Thank you for all your hard work Dr.Gonzi

Michael Campbell

Mar 10th, 14:12

You were a good steward but a poor and dithering leader who lost touch with the people, blinded by something, an illusion, poor advice, w.h.y..
You should have listened to the people when the people spoke. You have let certain people rape our country under your watch.
You did nothing. you let injustice prevail. You hurt us by your procrastination.
Hard to forget. Hard to forgive.

Charles Massa

Mar 10th, 14:11

Gonzi tilef il leadership tal partit wara l elezzjoni ta 2008. Barra minn hekk qatt ma sab irkaptu tal arroganza tal ministri tieghu. Kelna l iskandlu TA xiri taz zejt fl enemalta u anki ta tender tal helicopeters tal armata. Il kampanja elettorali kienet biss negattiva. Ir riżultat mhux sorpriza. Franco Debono ilu li gibidlu l attenzjoni imma injorah. Il poplu tah risposta.

B. Cachia

Mar 10th, 14:10

Well, he lost about a fifth of the party's votes, so I think it was definitely the right thing. In any case, the age of leaders staying in office for a generation should now be behind us. I would say the age of leaders indicating their preferred successor should also be over, but I'm not so sure. The Party might have to spend a generation in opposition if it doesn't get rid of this practice.