VALETA, Malta (AP) — A legislator whose father was president of Malta has been elected prime minister of the small European country, after the previous ruler had to resign amid protests over the death of a journalist. Robert Abela replaces Joseph Muscat after weeks of protests over failures in the investigation into a car-bomb that killed an investigative journalist.
Abela received 58% of the votes submitted by members of the official Labour Party, authorities said on Sunday. But while many citizens demanded Muscat’s resignation after the death of Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017, major policy changes are unlikely. Although Abela, 42, an expert in labour and industrial law, had promised to help repair Malta’s image, he is largely considered a protégé of Muscat.The Labour Party, which has a comfortable majority in parliament, has chosen a politician who will follow the course set by Muscat, who gathered in the midst of his second term as prime minister. Muscat congratulated his successor via Twitter, writing, “I will proudly deliver the office of the prime minister of #Malta PM on Monday” when Abela will be sworn in. In his triumphant speech on Sunday night, Abela did not specifically mention the protests against Muscat or the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. However, he tangentially referred to the subject by declaring, “The ship has stabilized.”
