Joseph Muscat walks into the Auberge de Castille as prime minister on March 11, 2013. The Malta Labour Party won the general election with a majority of 55%.

May 2013 - Simon Busuttil was elected PN leader and sworn in as leader of the opposition. Mario de Marco became deputy leader for parliamentary affairs, having been uncontested, while Beppe Fenech Adami became deputy leader for party affairs after beating off ClaudetteButtigieg.

September 17, 2013 - One of the earliest controversies was the appointment of the Energy Minister's wife, Sai Mizzi, as representative of Malta Enterprise in Shanghai without a call for applications and with an income of €13,000 a month.

May 4, 2015 - New Parliament House, designed by Renzo Piano, was inaugurated, marking the completion of a project for city gate conceived by the former Gonzi government.

March 13, 2013 - The government asks permanent secretaries to step down, even though they were on three-year contracts. All but three were eventually replaced. Mario Cutajar became Principal Permanent Secretary.

April 2013 - Finance Minister Edward Scicluna delivered two Budget speeches in 2013. In the first he pushed through the Nationalist government's Budget which had been previously defeated when then Nationalist MP Franco Debono broke ranks and voted against.

April 4, 2014 - Former minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca becomes President. Her post at the social affairs ministry is taken over by Michael Farrugia, promoted from parliamentary secretary for planning. Michael Falzon becomes new parliamentary secretary.

29 March 2014 - Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia resigned after differences with the prime minister. Parliamentary Secretary Franco Mercieca stepped down from his post as Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly amid controversy over the way he continued to carry out ophthalmic operations.

February 2014 - The government approves a €4.2 million deal to buy back the 65-year lease of Café Premier in Valletta. The controversial deal meant that taxpayers’ money had been used to pay an outstanding bank loan of €2.5 million, income tax and VAT arrears, energy bills, ground rents and a number of creditors.

August 31,2014 - The Labour Party sells Australia Hall after the governemnt drops a court case against the party to recover the property because it was left in a dilapitated state. The PN says government gifted the party a €10m property.

April 10, 2015 - Former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi joins Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi for the inauguration of the interconnector, planned by the PN governemnt. The Labour government slashed domestic, and later business power tariffs by 25%.

March 12, 2014 - Shanghai Electric Power buys a 33% stake in Enemalta and majority control of the BWSC plant at Delimara, injecting €320 million in the corporation and restoring its finances.

February 19, 2014 - The government announces a free childcare service and starts to subsidise childcare centres in an initiative to encourage more women to go out to work.

March 2, 2015 - A revamp of Castille Square is launched. The roundabout is removed, the Manuel Dimech statue moved to one side and the area is paved. The project is widely praised.

December 23, 2014 - The Sir Anthony Mamo cancer hospital receives its first patients. The project was launched in 2010 by the former government.

June 18, 2016 - The government hands over St Luke's Hospital, Karin Grech Hospital and Gozo Hospital to Vitals Healthcare. They will provide free medical services to the Maltese while attracting medical tourism.

April 27, 2016 - Police Commissioner Michael Cassar rersigns citing ill health, days after reportedly receiving an FIAU report on the Panama scandal. He was the fourth of five Police Commissioners under Labour - John Rizzo, Peter Paul Zammit, Ray Zammit and now Lawrence Cutajar.

January 29, 2014 - The Malta government and the European Commission finally reach agreement on the Individual Investor Programme - the sale of passports. The scheme had earlier drawn strong condemnation in the European Parliament and was amended twice. It has since raked in some €300m in fees and related property sales.

11 April 2015 - A referendum to stop spring hunting is held. A small majority in Malta voted in favour of stopping spring hunting, but a big majority in favour of spring hunting in Gozo tilted the balance in favour of the hunters.

January 26 - 2016 - The National Commission for Higher Education grants a licence to Sadeen Education Investment, which is setting up the 'American University of Malta'. There was huge controversy on the requirements for university recognition and about the siting of the university on a site outside the development zone at Zonqor, Marsascala.

May 27, 2014 - A watershed moment for women in politics. Women are elected to take four of Malta's six European Parliament seats. Labour won most votes but the parties ended up with three seats each. The winners were Alfred Sant, Miriam Dalli, Marlene Mizzi, David Casa, Roberta Metsola and Therese Comodini Cachia.

May 8, 2014 – Appeals court convicts Labour European Parliament candidate Cyrus Engerer. He had been accused of dissemination of pornography intended at vilifying his former boyfriend and handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years. Engerer drops his candidacy. Joseph Muscat brands him a soldier of steel and later gives him a top post at Malta’s mission to the EU in Brussels.

March 9, 2015 - A formal ceremony is held for the switching off of the Marsa power station. It follows the commissioning of the interconnector. The power station is now being dismantled.

April 3, 2016 - The Panama Papers scandal breaks, casting the government into its most serious controversy. Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi and the prime minister's chief of staff Keith Schembri are found to have secret companies in Panama and trusts in New Zealand. PN holds protests, the prime minister announces a Cabinet 'reshuffle' but Mizzi is retained, albeit without formal portfolio. The Opposition brands the exercise a farce.

March 21, 2016 - Toni Abela resigns as Labour deputy leader after being nominated to the European Court of Auditors. Konrad Mizzi briefly succeeded him. Dr Abela failed the European Parliament's grilling, dropped out, and was later made a judge. Labour official Wenzu Mintoff was also made a judge.

March 30, 2017 - The government announces the first surplus since 1981, with revenue exceeding spending by almost €9 million. Moody's and other credit agencies hail the achievement.

April 28, 2017 - The government and the social partners sign an agreement raising the minimum wage by €8 per week by 2019. The raise applies for those in employment for more than a year. Earlier, the government raised salaries for all government workers under a new collective agreement.

April 29, 2016 - Konrad Mizzi says he had offered to resign his post of deputy leader of the Labour Party, weeks after his uncontested election, amid the Panama papers controversy. He is succeeded by Chris Cardona.

April 14, 2014 - Celebrations were held in Valletta as a law which put same sex partnerships on a par with marriage was approved. The Opposition abstained, with controversy mainly centred on the right of same sex couples to adopt children.

August 4, 2016 - Mepa narrowly approves a permit for the 38-storey Townsquare Project in Tigne, its chairman being among those who voted against. The government's plans to allow skyscrapers raised controversy, with projects approved or planned in Mrieħel, Gzira, St Julians's and other areas.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016 - The prime minister announces that US based Crane currency will invest €100 million in a currency printing firm in Malta. Another currency printer, De la Rue, later reversed plans to scale back its Malta facililty.

November 16, 2015 - The newly rebuilt Coast Road is reopened and Transport Malta asks if it is the most beautiful road in Malta. The project was conceived by the former government but mostly handled by the present one. Work then starts on a flyover at the Tal-Qroqq junction, now nearing completion.

November 26, 2015 - The Queen arrives for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. It was a particularly busy time, with Malta that month also hosting the first ever meeting of EU and African leaders, to discuss migration.

February 3, 2016 - Tourist arrivals in 2016 reached 1.8 million, with sharp increases made in the winter and shoulder months.

January 13, 2017 - The government confirms it has broken off talks with Alitalia for the Italian airline to take a 49% stake in Air Malta. Efforts continue to find a strategic partner for the national airline.

April 27, 2017 - The PN executive approves a coalition deal with the Democratic Party, headed by former Labour MP Marlene Farrugia.

December 9, 2014 - Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia is dismissed by the prime minister after claims of a cover-up after his driver opened fire at a car which had earlier slightly damaged the parked ministerial car. After several months, Dr Mallia returned as minister for competitiveness.

May 31, 2015 - The Sunday Times of Malta reveals how the government expropriated Marco Gaffarena's part-ownership of a property in Old Mint Street, Valletta, with compensation of €1.65 million. Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon resigned and the prime minister filed a court case to rescind the deal.

April 24, 2017 - Prime Minister Joseph Muscat inaugurates the new gas power station in Delimara. The BWSC plant is also converted to gas

January 1, 2017 - Malta assumes the presidency of the EU Council on January 1, chairing the various formal and infromal EU ministerial meetings as well as an EU leaders' meeting. It is a crucial time, during which the UK triggered the process to leave the bloc.

June 30,2016 - Extensive restoration works at the Cittadella, Gozo's walled capital, is completed. The project started with consolidation and restoration of the bastions in 2010 and then involved rehabilitation of the ditch, access, the gate and the citadel's narrow roads and buildings.

January 31, 2017 - Economy Minister Chris Cardona denies claims that he and one of his officials visited a brothel in Germany while he was there on an official visit.

November 25, 2016, - A court finds that mistakes were made in vote-counting in the 2013 general election and allocates two extra seats to the Nationalist Party.

November 17, 2015 - Marlene Farrugia resigns from the Labour Party and stays on as an independent MP, saying she wants to remain the people's voice.

May 5, 2015 – Anthony Debono, husband of former Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono is charged in Gozo court and denies fraud and misappropriation in a case known as ‘works for votes’. Mrs Debono resigns from the PN parliamentary group and stays on as an independent MP.