Malta's incoming leader, Robert Abela, promised to strengthen the rule of law and said the country would emerge stronger after recent events, in an address on Sunday a day before he is due to succeed Joseph Muscat as prime minister.
Muscat is stepping down following an investigation into the 2017 murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The ruling Labour party elected Abela as the party's new leader in a vote on Saturday and he will be sworn in as prime minister on Monday.
Muscat is not directly implicated in the murder case but announced his resignation last month after testimony by the self-confessed middleman in the murder plot linked people in Muscat's inner circle to attempts at an alleged cover-up.