Robert Abela pours cold water on November election but won't rule it out

Robert Abela has insisted that he wants to oversee the implementation of Budget 2022, effectively pouring cold water on speculation that a general election will be held in November.

However, the Prime Minister refused to outright rule out holding an election this year when pressed further on the matter during a press conference on new housing schemes at Castille.

“If I had to go by the speculation, Malta would have had a general election months ago. I am focussed completely on the budget for next year and determined not only to draw it up and announce it but also implement it,” Abela said when asked on the speculation of a November election.

However, when pressed further as to whether he ruled out holding an election this year, the Prime Minister replied: “The date of an election will be dictated by the national interest.”

On Sunday, the Nationalist Party newspaper il-Mument said the Prime Minister will be calling an election either for the 13 or 27 November. A similar report in The Sunday Times of Malta was less certain, citing sources saying that Abela was being advised to call a November election.

The latest that a general election can be held is September 2022 but the Prime Minister has absolute discretion to call an election any time before that.

Budget 2022 will be presented in parliament on 11 October and the debates on it and its final approval could take at least two weeks.

With the shortest period between an election and its announcement being 33 days, any election this year would have to be held in the first weekend of December.

However, an election so late in the year could disrupt the Christmas shopping period, something the government will not be too keen to do, especially after two years of disruptions that the retail sector has had to endure.

Abela has said in the past that he wants to see the Labour government implement its electoral programme to the full.