The outcome of the US presidential election is still undecided, with the candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden neck and neck in many of the states where counting remains ongoing.

This has not prevented the incumbent, Mr Trump, from claiming victory for two nights in a row, with television networks cutting away from his second press conference to fact check his claims. Senior Republican figures like Senators Mitt Romney of Utah and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania have pushed back against the president’s "shenanigans" and called for patience.

However, the Maltese ambassador to the United States, Keith Azzopardi, does not believe the turmoil will affect the eventual transition of power if the Democratic nominee wins.

He explains, “Article 20 of the US Constitution dictates that the president and vice president are required to end their term of office on January 20th at noon in the year following the election.”

“No matter how hard elections were fought in the past, we have seen a smooth transition of power at the end.”

Asked what he makes of Mr Trump calling on the Supreme Court to stop the vote count, Mr Azzopardi, who has been in his position since September 2018, said that this would definitely not be the first time the Supreme Court got involved.

“There have been disputes in the past over voting irregularities or other technical issues which were brought to the attention of the Supreme Court for ruling,” he says. “One notable example is the Bush vs Gore ruling in December 2000.”

On that occasion the Supreme Court had decided in favour of George W. Bush.

Mr Azzopardi does not find the overall leaning of the mail-in ballots towards the Democrats surprising. “The Democrats have been calling on their supporters to vote early by mail throughout the entire election campaign,” he says. “Therefore, it is of no surprise to be witnessing more votes being allocated to Biden during the counting of the mailing-in votes.”

Turning to Malta and its interests in the USA, Mr Azzopardi stated that Malta enjoys excellent relations with the global superpower. “There exists great collaboration on different levels and on various issues.”

Asked whether these relations would change under a Biden presidency, he replied in the negative. “I don’t expect this to change, irrespective of whoever would ultimately be declared as the next US President.”

The Maltese ambassador, who also acts as High Commissioner to Canada and the Bahamas, said that although protocol dictates that embassies channel all official communications through the State Department, he enjoys a good working relationship with a number of officials working at the White House.

Finally, on whether he is expecting a change in his role under a Biden regime, he says, “My role is to facilitate and help strengthen Malta’s existing strong relationship with the USA as an ambassador based in the country’s capital. Therefore, my role would always be the same no matter who the next president is.”