Robert Abela is set to become Malta's new prime minister on Sunday after Joseph Muscat's downfall following public outcry over the murder of an investigative journalist.

Abela, who is seen as representing continuity, was elected leader of the Labour Party, meaning he automatically takes the role of prime minister. 

With election result coming in early on Sunday, Abela took 58% of the votes of some 17,500 members of the party. He defeated Chris Fearne, 56, the deputy prime minister and minister of health, who was seen as the favorite to win.

The 42-year-old lawyer, specialized in labor and industrial law, was first elected to parliament in 2017. Muscat gave the lawyer a government consultancy role, allowing him to attend Cabinet meetings.

"I am humbled," Abela said to his supporters. "I thank my friend Chris (Fearne) and look forward to working together for the good of the party and the country. There is only one winner today, the Labour Party."

Abela is set to focus on social policy issues, pledging to give free medicines to pensioners in the space of five years, and providing affordable housing. 

The new prime minister's father, George Abela, was deputy leader of the Labour Party until 1998 and ran against Muscat in 2008 for the party leadership. He went on to become president of Malta.

Joseph Muscat tweeted that he was proud to hand over to Abela, adding that he would formally step down from his prime ministerial duties on Monday.

He has said he intends to remain in parliament to advance civil rights reform and develop Malta's athletics program. 

In the election run-up, Abela did not criticize Muscat, who announced in December he would quit following widespread anger over the 2017 slaying of blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

He is not directly implicated in the case but announced his resignation last month after testimony by the self-confessed middleman in the murder plot linked people in his inner circle to attempts at an alleged cover-up.

Prior to the election result, activist groups cast doubt on whether his successor would bring about real change in the Mediterranean country, which they say has been taken over by "criminals." 

'Indelible stain' 

Dubbed the "one woman WikiLeaks," Caruana Galizia exposed corruption at the highest levels. She was killed by a car bomb on October 16, 2017 in an attack that made world headlines. 

Less than an hour before her death, she wrote on her blog: "There are crooks everywhere you look. The situation is desperate." 

Muscat's fall from power followed daily protests led by supporters of the Caruana Galizia family, who accuse him among other things of shielding his chief of staff and childhood friend Keith Schembri, who has been implicated in the murder inquiry.

The journalist's family had called for Muscat to step down immediately, but support from his party and his own popularity-linked to Malta's booming economy bought him time until the party election. 

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Three men are on trial for allegedly detonating the bomb that killed Caruana Galizia, while a fourth-powerful businessman Jorgen Fenech was charged as an accomplice after being detained as he tried to leave the country on his yacht. 

Fenech's arrest in November sparked the resignation of tourism minister Konrad Mizzi, who formerly served as energy minister, and Schembri. 

The murder and probe, Malta Today wrote on Saturday, "cast an indelible stain on Muscat and his administration." 

(Cover: Robert Abela attends Joseph Muscat's final speech at the party's Congress before the election of a new party leader at the Corradino Sports Pavilion in Paola, Malta, January 10, 2020. /Reuters Photo)