Labour secretary-general Jason Micallef confirmed to MaltaToday the decision to request an extra hour of voting on Saturday 8 March, extending voting hours to 11pm, was the brainchild of deputy leader Michael Falzon.
In an interview, Micallef names Falzon and MLP electoral office chief Louis Gatt as the men behind the strange decision that was at first credited to the PN, given the record low turnout from Nationalist districts.
“The request came from the people of our electoral wing, for a one-hour extension,” Micallef says, adding he never interfered in issues related to the electoral process. “Michael Falzon and Louis Gatt are the experts on these matters.”
Micallef says the decision was prompted by long queues in Bormla, l-Isla and Zejtun but when asked if he was aware this could have cost the election, Micallef stops short of defending the request.
“I don’t know. I can’t confirm that as yet. I haven’t gone that far into the analysis. I know a lot of people got worried when they heard about this. However, if you have experts on the electoral process, you have to take their word. The party took their word.”
In an interview appearing also today on sister paper Illum, PN secretary-general Joe Saliba also confirmed the request for the one-hour extension came from Labour. “We immediately said yes,” Saliba said.
According to yesterday’s In-Nazzjon, people close to Alfred Sant were blaming Falzon for Labour’s defeat.

Read interview