Prime Minister Claims Victory in Malta Vote

TA QALI, Malta — Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami proclaimed victory today in Malta’s hotly contested general election and said that joining the European Community will be his government’s prime aim.

“It will be our top priority,” he told reporters during a victory tour of the counting hall in this central town in Malta, a Mediterranean island that lies between Sicily and Libya.

Fenech Adami’s Nationalist Party declared Monday night it had won 51% of the vote against 47% for its main rival, the pro-Libya Labor Party.

Labor leader Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, who had proposed strengthening links with Malta’s other Mediterranean neighbors, had pledged to revoke Malta’s EC application in favor of a loose customs agreement with the EC.

Officials confirmed that 96% of the 250,000 electorate had turned out to vote on Saturday. Party officials said Monday’s results will translate into a three-seat parliamentary majority.