Ian Borg and Alex Agius Saliba were elected as Labour’s two deputy leaders on Saturday, with both men running for their respective posts uncontested.
Borg obtained 678 delegates' votes or 95.8% of the votes cast in his election; 30 voted against and there were 13 abstentions.
Agius Saliba obtained 635 or 92.3% of votes cast; 53 voted against; there were 28 abstentions and five invalid votes.
A total of 721 votes were cast in these elections for a turnout of 95.1%.
Both candidates thanked the delegates for a strong turnout and for taking part in party renewal.
It took around one hour and 20 minutes for the counting process to be concluded at the Labour headquarters, even though the two candidates were uncontested.
Borg, who serves as Malta’s Foreign Affairs Minister, will now serve as Labour’s deputy leader for parliamentary affairs, succeeding the outgoing Chris Fearne. The role automatically makes him deputy prime minister, taking charge of the nation whenever Robert Abela is absent.
Agius Saliba, a Labour MEP who leads the party’s three-person delegation in Strasbourg, will serve as the party’s deputy leader for party affairs. He replaces Daniel Micallef, who stepped aside in June.
Labour’s two deputy leaders are among the party’s most popular politicians.
Borg, 38, served as mayor of his hometown Dingli as a teenager and was just 27 when he was elected to parliament in 2013. He has served as a parliamentary secretary for EU funds, Infrastructure and Transport Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister.
Agius Saliba, 36, spent years working within Labour’s executive and as an adviser to various Labour ministers before running for MEP in 2019. His popularity grew during that term, and in March 2024 he almost doubled his vote count as he was reelected.
The two posts are among various ones to be determined by votes cast by Labour members in elections held across Friday and Saturday.
Apart from the deputy leadership positions, Labour will also elect a new party president, international secretary and executive.
Former TVM head of news Norma Saliba and lawyer Alex Sciberras are both vying to become party president, while Georvin Bugeja and John Grech are contesting the international secretary position.
The 12 seats on the party’s executive are the most contested positions: there are 37 candidates in the running.