Day 1: Labour pitches to first-time buyers as PN focuses on health
A look at what happened on the first full day of the 2026 general election campaign
Labour promised grants and incentives for property buyers and young families, while the Nationalist Party pledged new hospitals on the first day of the 2026 electoral campaign.
Robert Abela held a press conference in the morning in which he unveiled proposals ranging from interest-free loans of up to 25 per cent of a property's value to significant extensions to maternity, paternity and parental leave allocations.
Alex Borg told journalists that voters are crying out for 'nifs ġdid' [a fresh start] and later in the day addressed a PN rally in which he vowed to make all cancer medications free of charge and to build a hospital in the north of Malta.
Labour faced internal trouble after Roderick Galdes challenged the party's decision to block his candidacy, while the PN's Adrian Delia promised energy prices "so low you won't need subsidies".
Momentum are campaigning under the slogan Bidla ta' vera ['A real change'] while ADPD are focusing their campaign on Ilkoll ['Together'].
Here's a blow-by-blow account of the first full day of the 2026 general election campaign.
As it happened
Live blog ends
9pm That's all for today, thank you for joining us. We'll be back tomorrow.
What's on tomorrow?
8.50pm Both parties will no doubt have events throughout the day, but we know two of them already.
Robert Abela heads to Gozo, for an ‘interview’ in Sannat at 6pm. And we're hearing Alex Borg will be speaking in Mellieħa at 6.30pm - though the PN has not confirmed that yet.
Want to play a part in the election?
8.45pm The Electoral Commission has issued a call for applications from those wishing to serve as Assistant Electoral Commissioners, Polling Place Officers and Counting Staff in the forthcoming General Election.
You can apply online from Wednesday to Sunday, or visit the commission's offices at the Counting Hall Complex (Ex-Trade Fair Grounds), Naxxar or the Electoral Office, Triq Ta’ Wara s-Sur, Victoria, Gozo, from 8am to 1pm and from 3pm till 8pm.
Party's over in Żejtun
8.35pm Robert Abela has wrapped things up in Żejtun, following speeches by Franco Mercieca and Naomi Cachia. There was little new other than Mercieca announcing his candidacy, with the Prime Minister reiterating proposals unveiled earlier this morning.
All over at Dar Ċentrali
8.20pm After a relatively brief speech, Alex Borg wraps things up at the PN rally. There's a rendition of the national anthem (that seems to be interrupted by a techno beat) and then it's all over.
Three more health-related pledges Borg made in his speech:
- Slashed waiting lists for operations
- Mount Carmel Hospital shut down and mental healthcare shifted to communities
- Better salaries and conditions for healthcare workers
PN promises new hospitals
8.10pm Alex Borg presents the PN’s first proposals of the campaign:
- A new hospital in the north of Malta
- Expanding the Paola Hub to a full hospital
- Expanding Mater Dei Hospital
- A new hospital in Gozo
- A new centre of health excellence
- All cancer medicines to be free
Watch Robert Abela in Żejtun
8pm Labour's Żejtun event has gotten under way.
And eye surgeon Franco Mercieca (who served as a junior minister back in 2013) reveals he will be running for Labour again.
Watch Alex Borg at PN rally
7.35pm Alex Borg and his partner Sarah Bajada are greeting supporters outside PN headquarters.
Watch the event in the video below.
Freed from Desire
7.25pm Emma Borg is in Żejtun to cover the Labour rally.
A Labour supporter in Żejtun. Photo: Emma Borg"The square is packed with people. Most are 60+ but I can also see groups of young people ready for the party atmosphere," she says, "and kids who have been dragged there by their parents – including a baby in a pushchair with a Labour flag as a blanket.
"Speakers are blaring ‘Freed from Desire’ and people are enjoying their beers. There’s a Chris Bonett crew kitted out in bright orange on one side of the piazza and Alicia Bugeja Said’s gang all dressed in white on the other. It’s a bit like West Side Story.
"And then there’s Ċikku, a friendly supporter I spotted wearing a Chris Fearne cap and scarf."
A similar story in Żejtun
7.05pm It's a similar story in Żejtun. Labour supporters are gathering, the music is blaring and the soundtrack is straight out of the bargain bucket.
Robert Abela's got your back? A Labour supporter draped in a party flag in Żejtun. Photo: Matthew MirabelliPN supporters gather
6.55pm Nationalist Party supporters are gathering outside Dar Ċentrali for the party's first major event of the 2026 campaign.
Our man on the ground tells me he's not impressed with the trance music that's being played at eardrum-busting volumes. But that's mass meeting heritage at this point.
PN supporters on Tuesday evening. Photo: Jonathan BorgPLPN tonight
6.20pm Reminder:
The Nationalist Party will hold its first electoral rally tonight, outside party headquarters in Pieta. That is scheduled to begin at 6.30pm.
Labour will gather in Żejtun for one of their trademark 'Taħt it-tinda' events starting from 7pm.
News from the far-right
5.35pm Imperium Europa will run a candidate in the general election for the first time in almost 20 years: the fascist party’s new leader, Eman Cross, says he will run on districts one and nine. The group had a candidate (former leader Norman Lowell) in the 2008 election but subsequently focused solely on MEP elections.
Labour announces new candidates
5.25pm The Labour Party has approved a new batch of candidates. They include two government-appointed commissioners, a state entity CEO, a former party president, one former mayor and one present one, a former union official and a criminal lawyer.
Read the full list here.
The Earth Garden promise
5pm Who needs political sources when you've got a music festival to leak the election date?
People will be casting their votes on the same weekend as the Earth Garden music festival in Ta' Qali - and it's not the first time it's happened, either.
“It is honestly on the verge of being hilarious," one of the organisers told us. "Luckily, we are used to it by now.”
PN decries 'broken promises'
4.40pm The PN has just had a press conference focused entirely on decrying various promises the Labour government did not keep. And in the course of that event, PN MP Adrian Delia made an interesting (if vague) promise of his own.
That said, we're still waiting for the PN to present its first electoral proposals.
Roderick Galdes challenges vote that blocked election bid
4.13pm Our journalist Daniel Ellul has this scoop for you. Roderick Galdes has formally challenged the vote that blocked his bid to contest the general election.
Roderick Galdes at a coffee morning with supporters last month. He's been barred from contesting the election after a vote by the party's highest organ. Photo: FacebookSilvio Schembri prepares for the big reveal
3.30pm Four months ago economy minister Silvio Schembri said Malta had secured "the largest foreign direct investment" in the country's history in the medical technology sector, or MedTech.
He's just given a news conference where he said basically the same thing. But this time he promises he'll announce the details in "the coming days".
Labour also promises to present proposals on AI and digitalisation. But not until next week.
And he promised to inaugurate a wind turbine factory in the near future. It's not clear if it's this one, announced in 2024. The project will support offshore renewable energy through Malta’s first floating wind farm, he said.
He was flanked by parliamentary secretary Rebecca Buttigieg, who said improvements for families were at the centre of Labour's election campaign.
Sign of the times
3.28pm If you drove to work this morning, you could hardly miss the election billboards. When we counted them, we found Labour signs lining one of Malta's busiest routes at a rate of four per kilometre.
Second PN presser of the day
3.20pm The PN has called a second news conference of the day. This one's about Labour's 'broken promises'.
No shocks from Volt
2.30pm Volt Malta, the local wing of the European progressive and federalist party Volt Europa, will not be fielding any candidates this election.
"Volt Malta will not be contesting this general election, but we will use our voice to support progressive and moderate third-party and independent voices who stand for democratic reform, transparency, equality, sustainability, social justice, and a stronger European future," the party said.
That is hardly surprising: the party has been totally absent from the local political scene and its announcement today is the only post by the party since last September.
Volt Malta got 382 votes in the 2022 general elections.
About those Momentum banners
2.20pm Yesterday, Momentum cried foul after five of its banners were removed by the Cleansing Department. The decision drew enough flak to prompt the department to respond and explain the removal.
Given the way the country was coated in an 'Int Malta' blanket overnight (have you ever seen so many banners and billboards?) it feels like we need some new rules for these things.
An AI election
2.08pm It's the first election in the age of artificial intelligence, which means you'll probably be seeing more of this type of video in your social media feeds, complete with a US accent.
This one's from Labour.
Why now?
2.03pm During his first news conference of Election 2026, Alex Borg questioned why Robert Abela called an election a year early, saying the move raised "questions and worries". You can read our report here.
KM Malta awaits instructions
1.10pm Malta seems determined to remain in the digital middle ages when it comes to voting, so we know that for those of you based abroad, returning home to vote in person is important.
We asked KM Malta Airlines if they had any plans to offer additional flights and subsidised trips for Maltese voters, and they told us the matter was "under review". We'll let you know when we hear more.
No planning reform
12.35pm On a somewhat election-adjacent matter, activist group Il-Kollettiv has pointed out that the dissolution of parliament means all pending legislation will now fall through.
That means the government's two highly controversial planning bills are off the table - at least for now.
Alex Borg: PN manifesto is costed
12pm Alex Borg told journalists that the PN's manifesto has cost calculations for each of its measures. He dismissed questions about the party's poor showing in polls, saying the May 30 election day "is the only survey that matters".
Alex Borg: Perici Calascione would be deputy PM
11.40am Borg's press conference did not delve into specifics; he said the PN will be unveiling its first proposals "later today".
Instead, the PN leader focused on questioning Abela's decision to call a snap election "one year early" and said his party's Nifs Ġdid slogan is more than that: "We keep hearing from people that there is thirst for a fresh start," he says.
“We need an economic model that doesn't just focus on more buildings, a larger population and more traffic," he said.
The PN leader also made it clear that the party's deputy leader, Alex Perici Calascione, would serve as deputy prime minister should the PN be elected.
Alex Borg holds press conference
11.25am PN leader Alex Borg is addressing a press conference.
Watch it live:
Labour's family proposals
11.15am And here are full details about Labour's pledges to young families.
Labour's property promises
11am Here are the full details of Abela's housing plan for property buyers.
ADPD: Ilkoll
10.50am ADPD has launched their electoral campaign under the slogan Ilkoll ('Together').
The ADPD slogan is set against a mostly green background - in a nod to the party's environmentally-focused platform - featuring a yellow flower-themed graphic, upon which the party name is placed.
Unlike slogans from other parties, the ADPD offering was released without an accompanying subheading.
ADPD's campaign slogan.Momentum: Bidla ta' vera
10.15am Momentum have just added their slogan to this year’s election arena; the party will campaign under Bidla ta’ vera (“Real change”), with the subheading, “For a fair and beautiful Malta, free from control of the major parties and developers”.
The slogan was released set against a background image of the sun rising over a field filled with flora.
Momentum have launched their slogan.Abela: Galdes still has a lot to offer
10.11am Robert Abela offers an olive branch to Roderick Galdes and stops short of endorsing the Labour Party executive's decision to bar him from running.
"I thank Roderick Galdes for his contribution. He did a lot of good and I think he still has a lot to offer and will be doing more in the future," he says.
Press conference ongoing
10am Labour’s press conference is still ongoing – the party’s two deputy leaders are elaborating on some of the proposals unveiled by Robert Abela earlier.
The family-focused measures are designed to one-up the PN’s promises to parents: the PN has vowed to extend maternity leave to 24 weeks and paternity leave to 15 days; Labour is now saying it will give mothers 26 weeks and fathers 30 days.
It will be the state (read: taxpayers) paying for these increases, with Abela telling business owners they won't pay a cent. Given that Clyde Caruana has dubbed demographic challenges the biggest crisis Malta faces, I suspect he will be happy to sign off on these.
Incentives for first-time and second-time property buyers are generous, but like all demand-side subsidies they risk fuelling property price inflation even further, leaving developers as the biggest winners.
Incentives for property buyers
9.30am More from Labour's first set of proposals:
- Government to lend first-time buyers up to 25% of the property value interest-free.
- Second-time buyers to be eligible for first-time buyer UCA and stamp duty incentives if they have more than one child
- No tax on the first €30k of income for young people who start work or launch a startup
Labour's bid for families
9.20am Labour is presenting its first set of proposals. We'll have a full report of that event up shortly, but here's a brief summary of the party's key proposals. They focus primarily on families, property buyers and young entrepreneurs.
Families:
- Maternity leave to rise to 26 weeks (+8 weeks).
- Paternity leave to rise to 1 month (+ 2 weeks).
- Six months of parental leave to split between parents at full pay, covered by the state
- Extra 28 days of leave between parents until child is two
- Birth bonus to rise to €5,000 per child
What happened yesterday?
8.48am Malta will head to the polls on May 30 after Robert Abela announced a 33-day electoral campaign through a prerecorded video.
Catch up on what happened throughout the day with yesterday's live blog.
What's on today
8.45am Robert Abela will address the press at 9am in Ta' Qali.
Alex Borg has an event lined up at 11.30am.
Both parties also have their first evening events tonight: Labour will rally in Żejtun at 7pm while the PN will gather outside Dar Ċentrali at 6.30pm.