News • February 29 2004

Lawrence Gonzi to be Malta’s next Prime Minister

Lawrence Gonzi yesterday effectively became the new leader of the Nationalist Party and Prime Minister to be with a lead of 289 votes or 33.7 percentage points over his nearest rival John Dalli. The 50 year old lawyer attained 508 votes.
Mr John Dalli yesterday expressed his intention not to contest the second round and said that the party should rally behind the winning candidate.
Dr Gonzi’s lack lustre campaign paid dividends in the end leaving his two contestants combined anchored below the 50 per cent mark.
Lawrence Gonzi obtained the support of 59.1 per cent of PN councillors while John Dalli came in second with 219 votes with 25.4 per cent.
Louis Galea came a third with 133 or 15.5 per cent of the votes, meaning that he was eliminated from the race.
Displaying outward signs of jubilation the Gonzi camp was happy for the deputy leader, for long considered to be Fenech Adami’s natural replacement who managed to stave off the challenge posed by both Dalli and Galea.
The lead effectively guaranteed Dr Gonzi’s claim to the throne.
A tense atmosphere characterised the corridors at Pieta yesterday, with supporters and agents of the three candidates scrutinising every part of the process.
When it was evident that Gonzi was going to lead the pack. smiles appeared on the faces of the Gonzi clan. Their man was ahead.
Yesterday afternoon at 5pm the three contestants appeared together at Pieta with Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami in an apparent show of solidarity to cast their vote.
Behind the hugs and embraces tension reigned high in the Pieta HQ.
The confirmation of the result led to a sigh of relief on many of Lawrence Gonzi’s supporters including Secretary General Joe Saliba as well as many that work in the PN headquarters who have unabashedly oiled the Gonzi campaign and are expected to hang on to their jobs.
Of the 872 eligible voters yesterday, 864 voters cast their vote at the new PN headquarters. Of those that did not vote, four never collected their voting document. The voting process was held under tight security in the presence of representatives of the three contestants. The entire process was broadcast live on Net TV.
On Net TV, the three contestants appeared next to each other. Dr Gonzi was visibly content with a big smile on his face as his supporters shouted; “Ghax ghandha Gonzi maghna ahna maghqudin.”
Mr Dalli and Dr Galea kept a brave face. The election comes a day after the airing of the programme Xarabank which chose to issue a survey indicating that over 70% of the public supported Dr Gonzi.