Malta yesterday voted in a referendum on whether or not to join the European Union in the next enlargement that is to take place on 1 May 2004

Surprisingly for many observers the voter turnout was estimated to be close to 92 per cent cent, a very high figure considering one of the three options suggested by the Labour Party to its supporters was to abstain from voting. Labour leader Alfred Sant did not vote in yesterday’s referendum, choosing to vote only in Birkirkara’s local council election. 292,559 people were eligible to vote in yesterday’s referendum. By 2pm the voter turnout for the referendum stood at 47 per cent. Local elections were also held in a number of localities yesterday and the average turnout was not yet known before going to print. The international media spotlight was very much focused on Malta yesterday with major foreign television news stations giving importance to the referendum. Malta is the first of the EU candidate countries to hold a popular referendum which is why it attracted so much foreign media attention. The media and local council candidates were not allowed to approach the voters – they had to be 50 metres away from them.Speaking to The Malta Independent, PN secretary general Joe Saliba said sample votes taken in the early stages of counting – which began at 10.20am – showed that the ‘Yes’ vote will win. The referendum result is expected at around 12pm today.