Labour leader Robert Abela will be sworn in as prime minister at 3pm on Monday, the Department of Information has announced.

The ceremony, presided by President George Vella, will be held at the palace in Valletta. The new prime minister is then expected to walk from the palace to the Auberge de Castille, greeting people on the way. 

Dr Abela becomes the fourteenth man - there were no women - to hold the post of prime minister since self-government in 1921 although some held the position for a number of terms.

Joseph Muscat is expected to walk out of his office at the Auberge de Castille early on Monday afternoon ending just under seven years at the helm, half-way through his second term.

He was elected by a landslide in March 2013 and won by a second landslide in 2017.

Although cut short, his time in office was far from being the shortest term served as prime minister.

All nine prime ministers elected from the granting of self-government in 1921 right up to the 1960s served for fewer years.

George Borg Olivier, however, served for just over nine uninterrupted years over two terms between March 1962 and June 1971. He was previously prime minister in the first half of the 1950s at the head of coalition governments.

Dom Mintoff served for 13 years from June 1971 to December 1984 – becoming the prime minister who served for the longest number of uninterrupted years. He was also prime minister between 1956 and 1958.

Eddie Fenech Adami was prime minister from May 1987 to October 1996 (just over nine years) and again from September 1998 to March 2004.

Nerik Mizzi served as prime minister for just three months, in 1950, and was the only prime minister to die in office. His successor, George Borg Olivier, is on his left.

The shortest term was that served by Nerik Mizzi (PN). He died three months after taking office in 1950 – the only prime minister to die in saddle.

Alfred Sant, the last Labour prime minister before Dr Muscat, served for 22 months before being forced to resign after losing a confidence vote.

The previous Labour prime minster, Karmenu Mifud Bonnici served from December 22,1984, when he took over from Dom Mintoff, to May 12, 1987, the very last Saturday of his government’s term of office. 

LIST OF PRIME MINISTERS

Joseph Howard: October 1921 – October 1923
Francesco Buhagiar: October 1923 – September 1924
Ugo Mifsud: September 1924 – August 1927
Gerald Strickland: August 1927 – June 1932
Ugo Mifsud: June 1932 – November 1933
Paul Boffa: November 1947 – September 1950
Enrico Mizzi: September 1950 – December 1950
George Borg Olivier: December 1950 – March 1955
Dom Mintoff: March 1955 – April 1958
George Borg Olivier: March 1962 – June 1971
Dom Mintoff: June 1971 – December 1984
Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici: December 1984 – May 1987
Eddie Fenech Adami: May 1987 – October 1996
Alfred Sant: October 1996 – September 1998
Eddie Fenech Adami: September 1998 – March 2004
Lawrence Gonzi: March 2004 – March 2013
Joseph Muscat: March 2013 - January 2020