Polls have closed in Malta after citizens voted in a snap general election, with Prime Minister Robert Abela's centre-left Labour Party (MLP) widely expected to secure another victory in the European Union's smallest member state.
More than 341,000 residents were eligible to vote before polling stations closed at 10pm on Saturday (6am on Sunday).
Beforehand, polling suggested Abela's governing MLP party was ahead of Alex Borg's conservative Nationalist Party (PN).
A win for Abela would extend his party's 13-year hold on power.
Vote counting is set to begin on Sunday morning, with one of the two main parties expected to declare victory between mid-morning and early afternoon based on preliminary results.
The official result is due later in the day.
Abela called the election a year ahead of schedule in late April, citing global geopolitical concerns arising from the war in Iran.
He said his government needed a new mandate to guide Malta and its citizens through a looming energy crisis.
Meanwhile, the PN centred its campaign on Borg, 30, portraying the lawyer and former Mr World Malta winner as a fresh political alternative capable of bringing change after more than a decade of Labour rule.
