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| - Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who is to resign amid charges of hampering the probe into investigative reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder, took office in 2013 at the age of 39 and remained in power despite corruption scandals that dogged him and his entourage. Born on January 22, 1974, in the town of Pieta, Muscat studied at a Jesuit school and began his career as a journalist, working for the Labour Party's media arm between 1992 and 1997. An only child from a modest background, Muscat studied in Malta before being awarded a doctorate from Britain's Bristol University. Despite having previously expressed opposition to Malta's entry into the European Union, Muscat was elected to the European Parliament in 2004. He later resigned and became the head of the Labour Party in 2008. Many saw Muscat as being too green and brash when he became prime minister, but he succeeded in winning over both the old guard and the younger members in the party. "When he came to power, Muscat by many was considered too young, too go-getting, too self- assured," a local newspaper wrote, adding however that he injected a "fresh feeling" into the party. He was re-elected in June 2017 with an overwhelming majority, on the back of sound economic results which saw the tiny Mediterranean island enjoy an economic growth rate three times the EU average and an unemployment rate of a mere 3.4 percent. Muscat had called the snap legislative elections after his close entourage was accused of corruption by journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. It was the first time since independence from Britain in 1964 that the Labour Party won two successive elections in Malta. Caruana Galicia had also alleged that Muscat's wife Michelle owned a shell company established by Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca. Muscat's image started unravelling after Caruana Galizia died in a car bombing in October 2017 near her home. Three men -- brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio and their friend Vincent Muscat, all in their fifties -- have been charged with triggering the bomb in her car. Muscat said in December he would be quitting following widespread anger over his perceived efforts to protect friends and allies from the investigation into the journalist's murder. His 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. Journalist consortium the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project named Muscat its Person of the Year in 2019 for allegedly allowing criminality and corruption to flourish, and in many cases go unpunished, under his leadership. bur-cjo/boc
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