A prime minister in court, elections, and the daily struggles: Our most read stories from 2024

It's been, as ever, an eventful year in Malta throughout 2024.It was a year of mid-term elections, unprecedented legal cases which saw those who were once the most important names in the country hauled into the halls of justice, and one with some of

By: independent.com.mt

Jan 05 2025
32
3496 Views

A prime minister in court, ele

It's been, as ever, an eventful year in Malta throughout 2024.

It was a year of mid-term elections, unprecedented legal cases which saw those who were once the most important names in the country hauled into the halls of justice, and one with some of the highest of highs but also some of the lowest of lows.

This was all reflected in The Malta Independent's 40 most read stories during 2024.

The year Joseph Muscat was hauled to court

How will the moment that Joseph Muscat and those who were his closest associates, such as Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi, walked into the law courts for the first time be remembered in Maltese history?

Muscat became the first ever former Maltese prime minister to face criminal charges as he and a myriad others were charged in connection with a concession which saw three public hospitals hived off to the public sector.

This was a moment of reckoning: for those who have vilified Muscat, it was what they believed should have happened years prior; for those who worshipped him, it was a day for them to flock to Valletta to offer their support for the former premier.

For Prime Minister Robert Abela, it was a moment to cry foul at a nameless "establishment" which he said was trying to interfere with the course of democracy by purposely timing the conclusion of a magisterial inquiry with the upcoming European Parliament and Local Council elections. Abela would later in the year say that he could have been more cautious in his words.

The court process became widely followed throughout the year, and various sittings - all reported live from inside the court room in Valletta - feature on our list of most read stories during 2024.

An election year

2024 was an election year, with Malta going to the polls to elect six Members of the European Parliament and hundreds of local councillors across the country.

It proved to be a surprise result, not necessarily for the outcome - the Labour Party came away with an expected victory even if it lost a seat in Brussels, as it expected to do - but for the manner in which it came.

This was as the Nationalist Party defied the polls and slashed the Labour Party's huge majority down to just 8,454 votes.

The pattern wasn't replicated to that degree in the local council elections, where the PL emerged with a margin of victory of just over 20,000 votes - but even there the PN made significant headway, as it flipped a number of key localities from red to blue.

The scandals that emerged

There was no shortage of scandals to keep the pages moving throughout this year, and several of those featured in our list of most read stories.

The apparent conclusion of the magisterial inquiry into 17 Black - the once secret Dubai-based company which was later outed to belong to Yorgen Fenech - was one of the most read. Nothing has come of this inquiry thus far... perhaps it is something for 2025.

There were others though: a racket showing how 18,000 fake identity cards had allegedly been granted to foreigners, sometimes through registering them on vacant houses, along with a separate scandal involving the cancellation of traffic violations issued by LESA.

Former PN MP Jason Azzopardi was the common denominator, having revealed both of these and prompted magisterial inquiries into each of them.

The highest of highs and the lowest of lows

This was a year where some reached heights that no other person on the planet had reached before.

Chief among them is long-distance swimmer Neil Agius, who successfully completed a world record swim in September, as he swam over 140 kilometres in the space of 60 hours and 30 minutes.

However the year also included particularly low moments, where tragedy struck the country.

Among them was the sudden and tragic death of former PN MP Karl Gouder, who is still deeply missed today six months on from his passing.

Other tragedies dominated the headlines: the death of a diver in an incident which saw 17 others rescued in Cirkewwa and a day of traffic accidents in August that claimed three lives.

The everyday struggles

Much like in 2023 though, several of the day to day struggles faced in various facets of Maltese life made the headlines and captured people's interests.

The most read story of the year was when The Malta Independent revealed the terms offered to teachers in negotiations for a new collective agreement: terms which were roundly panned and ultimately rejected by those same educators. An agreement would only be reached later in the year.

The second most read story concerned religion, as a Carmelite prior spoke to The Malta Independent and shared how allowing priests to marry may attract more vocations, as the Church struggles to attract people to the priesthood.

The struggles faced by small businesses due to competition from huge discount store chains, those faced by English language schools due to visa rejections, matters related to the tourism industry, and questions on Malta's examinations system as more and more students turn to professional help for their mental wellbeing all featured in this year's list as well.

The most read stories of 2024

1. Teachers' basic pay to remain the same, but allowances to increase in new collective agreement

2. Allowing priests to marry might attract more vocations - Carmelite prior

3. One diver dead, 17 others rescued after distress call in Cirkewwa

4. Karl Gouder's sister-in-law asks public to provide information about days leading to his death

5. 'An earthquake is coming' - 17 Black inquiry has been concluded, Casa to demand copy

6. Cardinal Mario Grech favourite 'European' to become pope - Irish Times

7. Biography: President of Malta Myriam Spiteri Debono

8. Maltese small businesses began suffering since first large discount store opened - SME Chamber CEO

9. Vitals accused resign from Convenience Shop, Shoreline directorships

10. Malta experiencing rise in Covid cases

11. Joseph Muscat says Malta's healthcare system is not sustainable