Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this afternoon welcomed the PL’s victory in the European elections "with humility and satisfaction" and said the government would not get carried away by the huge victory.

"This was a convincing victory which we greet with humility and satisfaction,” he told a press conference.

He said the government was satisfied that the Labour Party had confirmed itself as the biggest political force in the country a year after a general election when the people normally voted against the government.

The EP election had been a credibility test which the government and the PL had won, he said.

The difference between the two main parties was similar as in the general election, even though the turnout was lower. Indeed, the PN's position had deteriorated.

This, Dr Muscat said, confirmed how the Labour movement had changed the political landscape and erased old political styles.

The people had confirmed they did not want negative campaigning. Despite pointing out his personal respect for the PN leader, Dr Muscat said Simon Busuttil had had no political message and had waged a negative campaign.

The electorate had shown a yellow card to Dr Busuttil, who together with his deputy leaders Mario de Marco and Beppe Fenech Adami had kept the PN at the same level as his predecessors.

The people who had wanted to protest against the government had not voted, or voted for the smaller parties, but they did not vote PN, Dr Muscat observed.

The PN had thus not won an absolute majority since 2003 while the Labour Party had won three absolute majorities starting from the 2009 EP elections.

The prime minister pledged his party would admit its mistakes and not be carried away by its success.

He expected to see further progress in the future. Some results were already evident, such as the employment sector, he said. The government was making a difference in the people's lives.