Following the June 2017 election, the Labour Party (PL), which has governed Malta since 2013, retained its majority in the House of Representatives, and Joseph Muscat remained prime minister. Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated a few months after the election, and a political crisis began, which later culminated into a series of mass protests in late 2019. Muscat resigned in January 2020, and was succeeded by Robert Abela.