As it happened: Malta enters election race as Abela calls snap poll
Prime Minister announces May 30 election date
Robert Abela has fired the starting gun on the 2026 general election, with voters going to the polls on May 30.
The snap election announcement – delivered, somewhat unusually, through a video message posted to social media – ends weeks of speculation about an eventual election date.
The 33-day campaign is the shortest possible allowed under electoral law. Joseph Muscat (2017), Lawrence Gonzi (2008), Eddie Fenech Adami (2003, 1996, 1992), Alfred Sant (1998), and Dom Mintoff (1981) all held similarly short campaigns.
Abela is pitching Labour as the competent and experienced party that can safely guide Malta through this period of global uncertainty; his rival Alex Borg told voters that the Nationalist Party can continue growing Malta's economy while ensuring people's everyday quality of life improves.
A Times of Malta poll that surveyed voters between April 9 and 16 found that Labour currently enjoys an estimated 19,600 vote lead.
As it happened
Blog ends
10.15pm The big announcements are over, and that's a wrap for the first few hours of the 2026 electoral campaign.
The campaign's main protagonists will return tomorrow - and so will we. Have a good night and thanks for having joined us.
Robert Abela pushes wellbeing
10pm Robert Abela says Labour will start unveiling proposals as of tomorrow, and pitches an electoral manifesto that will feature cost estimates for measures as well as a "wellbeing index" (no detail) that each measure will be gauged against.
He pitches Labour as the trusted hand - "You know where you stand with us, and you know where you’re going with us," he says - and argues that Labour is the only party "with the ability to make people’s lives easier and better."
Just like Alex Borg, he pledges to run a clean, "positive" campaign and makes a pitch to sceptics: hear me out and give me a chance, he says.
Alex Borg makes his pitch
9.44pm Alex Borg’s pitch is very clear: the PN will be presenting itself as the party that can continue Malta’s economic growth trajectory but make that growth more equitable.
In his address, the PN leader repeatedly emphasised the gap between headline economic growth figures and what people are feeling in their everyday lives.
The economy is growing, but are people feeling that wealth, he asked.
“A stronger economy should lead to people living better lives,” he said. “Malta is growing but it’s putting more and more pressure on overburdened infrastructure.”
“We want an economy that people can enjoy. We want change that leads to a better quality of life. We have opportunities. Now we need to ensure everyone can access them.”
He pledges a positive campaign – “we won’t sow hate,” he says – and also makes a pitch to orphaned PN voters, saying “to those who we disappointed: I hear you.”
Alex Borg addresses the nation
9.30pm Nationalist Party leader Alex Borg is giving a video address, following a shorter earlier selfie video he published within minutes of Robert Abela's announcement.
Here's a video of Alex Borg:
New mandate, same policies?
9.20pm We spent weeks hearing rumours about an imminent electoral announcement. Labour insisted all that talk was just the Nationalist Party getting a bad bout of pre-electoral jitters.
Robert Abela claimed that the only person talking about an election was PN leader Alex Borg; his deputy leader Alex Agius Saliba said, just nine days ago, that Labour has “no urgency” to call a snap election.
So much for all of that; the rumours were right all along.
Robert Abela framed his decision to go to the polls as one influenced by global geopolitical uncertainty, saying the country needs a government with a fresh mandate to address these challenges.
But in the same breath, he said there would be no change to the single thing most impacted by that uncertainty: subsidies. Alex Borg has also pledged to keep subsidies, come what may.
So if nothing will change, what sort of new mandate does the next government need?
Momentum banners taken down
9.10pm It's hard enough to compete against the PLPN behemoths at the best of times. But this is really taking the biscuit - Momentum has had five banners taken down.
The party's secretary general blames the Public Cleansing Department and is hoping to crowdfund to get new ones.
"Each banner costs roughly 55 euro. If you want you can help us by sponsoring a banner. Let's fight back!" Mark Camilleri Gambin writes.
Where's Alex Borg?
9.05pm We were initially told Alex Borg would be delivering a video address at 8.30pm. But it's now past 9pm and we're still waiting.
Labour's official campaign launch is also running late, it seems. That was due to begin at 9pm.
Labour to kick off
8.42pm I'm told Labour's electoral campaign will officially kick off at 9pm tonight.
But the party's first main event of the electoral campaign will be tomorrow in Żejtun, Ian Borg has revealed.
The deputy PM and deputy Labour leader used quasi-religious language as he urged supporters to head to the southern town at 7pm on Tuesday to "walk with our leader Robert Abela".
If you thought the politics was kitsch...
8.30pm Our reporter Matthew Bonanno tells me that the Eurovision Song Contest final will provide voters with a welcome distraction around halfway through the campaign on May 16.
"Perhaps a moment for the country to come together amidst the partisan rivalry. If Aiden qualifies for the final, of course," Matthew notes.
A ballot and a ballun
8.17pm Attention football fans: the election will coincide with the UEFA Champions League final in Budapest, Hungary on May 30.
Having said that, the remaining teams in the competition - Arsenal, PSG, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich - are not widely supported in Malta.
And here's another pub quiz nugget: it will be the first time the country has held a general election in May since 1987, when the election was held on May 9.
Different strokes
8.12pm The general election is as much an anthropological exercise as it is a political one. We can already see politicians’ different personal styles emerging.
Just compare Byron Camilleri’s selfie video filmed from a phone propped up on a desk to Beppe Fenech Adami’s more rehearsed, multi-angle clip.
Galdes is out
8pm Here's another Times of Malta exclusive: Roderick Galdes has not been approved as a Labour Party candidate. The party has effectively banished him, after our reporting about his real estate deals led to his resignation.
Alex Borg to speak at 8.30pm
7.56pm Alex Borg is going to give his own address to the nation. If you want to tune in to that, it's at 8.30pm on Net TV and the party's Facebook channels.
We will of course also run it, along with a summary in English for those who don't understand Maltese.
ADPD's Gauci: '6 and 12'
7.50pm We haven't seen an official reaction from ADPD yet, but party chairperson Sandra Gauci has shared our article announcing the election date and telling her followers "6 and 12 are my districts. It's in your hands."
Momentum's Cassola: 'Vamos'
7.46pm This will be Momentum's first-ever electoral campaign, but party chairperson Arnold Cassola is a political veteran.
He's dipped into Spanish for his first reaction to the election announcement.
"Vamos. Let's build up the Momentum," he wrote.
Bye bye parliament
7.43pm President Myriam Spiteri Debono has officially dissolved parliament and signed the writ authorising the holding of a general election. Malta's 14th legislature is done and dusted.
President Myriam Spiteri Debono and Prime Minister Robert Abela. Photo: OPMRead Alex Borg's reaction in full
7.40pm Earlier, I summarised the PN leader's first reaction to the snap election announcement. Here is a more comprehensive report into Alex Borg's first take.
Bernard Grech to run on district 11
7.33pm Bernard Grech is no longer PN leader but he has no intention of leaving politics behind him; he's confirmed he will contest the 11th district (Mdina, Mosta, Attard, Burmarrad).
Grech represented that district throughout this legislature.
Abela calls on the president
7.25pm The prime minister has been spotted arriving at San Anton Palace, where he will speak to President Myriam Spiteri Debono and ask her to dissolve parliament.
'Int Malta' vs 'Nifs Ġdid'
7.20pm And there you have it. The two big parties have unveiled their electoral slogans.
For Labour, it's 'Int Malta' (You're Malta).
For the PN, it's 'Nifs Ġdid' (A fresh start)
We've got a bit more on the respective slogans here.
Labour Party billboards have been unveiled with no delay.Alex Borg: 'Malta needs fresh air'
7.17pm Alex Borg has published his first full reaction to the May 30 election announcement. It pitches the PN as a breath of fresh air that will help people feel the country's economic growth more tangibly.
“We are ready,” Borg says. “Today we begin a walk of hope, energy and trust in Malta.”
“Malta has a strong economy. Now we need to make people feel that in their everyday lives,” the PN leader says. “This is our moment, it’s time for Malta to get some fresh air.”
'Tlaqna kap?'
7.10pm The PN is quick to release its own little video marking the start of their campaign: Darren Carabott has published a five-second reel of himself with party leader Alex Borg.
"Tlaqna, ejja naħdmu," [Let's go, let's get to work] Borg says.
'Int Malta'
7.08pm Abela ends his video message with the phrase "Malta suċċess għax int Malta" [Malta is successful because you're Malta]. Is that a hint at what the party's campaign slogan will be?
General election on May 30
7.06pm Robert Abela says he will ask the president to dissolve parliament and hold a May 30 general election.
“Our country needs a government with a new mandate focused on these new challenges,” he says. "We will offer a studied, thought-out and responsible plan."
Abela: We are ready for energy crisis
7.02pm Abela begins his address by speaking about the ongoing global energy crisis. He compares Malta’s situation – “we have a plan stretching years”, he says, – to other countries that are introducing restrictions on energy use.
Electricity, water and fuel prices "will remain stable", he says.
Abela to speak at 7pm
6.54pm Robert Abela will address the nation at 7pm. We will run the video live and provide an English summarised translation.
'They stole our banners'
5.30pm Arnold Cassola's Momentum party has accused the government's cleansing department of stealing five political banners, three in Santa Venera and two in Marsa.
Momentum said that unless the banners are placed again exactly where they were in the next few hours, it will file a police report for theft against parliamentary secretary Glenn Bedingfield.
Will he, won't he?
5pm Various Labour insiders are as confused as everyone else. By around 1pm it was almost a certainty that an election would be announced. Now, even they are having their doubts.
When will it be?
4.20pm By law, Abela can call a general election at any stage between now and March 2027. Still, there must be a minimum of 33 days between parliament’s dissolution and voting day.
Malta's historic tradition of holding elections on a Saturday helps us narrow down the potential election days.
If Abela announces a snap election today, it can be held as early as Saturday, May 30 or as late as Saturday, July 25.