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All 65 seats in the House of Representatives 33 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 96.95% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General elections were held in Malta on 12 April 2003. [1] The result was a victory for the Nationalist Party, which won 35 of the 65 seats in Parliament.
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| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
| Nationalist Party | 146,172 | 51.79 | 35 | 0 | |
| Malta Labour Party | 134,092 | 47.51 | 30 | 0 | |
| Democratic Alternative | 1,929 | 0.68 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independents | 20 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 282,213 | 100.00 | 65 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 282,213 | 98.98 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 2,909 | 1.02 | |||
| Total votes | 285,122 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 294,106 | 96.95 | |||
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver | |||||
The politics of Malta takes place within a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the president of Malta is the constitutional head of state. Executive authority is vested in the president of Malta, with the general direction and control of the Government of Malta remaining with the prime minister of Malta, who is the head of government and the cabinet. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Malta, which consists of the president of Malta and the unicameral House of Representatives of Malta with the speaker as the presiding officer of the legislative body. Judicial power remains with the chief justice and the judiciary of Malta. Since independence, the party electoral system has been dominated by the Christian democratic Nationalist Party and the social democratic Labour Party.
Malta has been inhabited since 5900 BC. The first inhabitants were farmers; their agricultural methods degraded the soil until the islands became uninhabitable. The islands were repopulated around 3850 BC by a civilization that at its peak built the Megalithic Temples, which today are among the oldest surviving buildings in the world. Their civilization collapsed in around 2350 BC; the islands were repopulated by Bronze Age warriors soon afterwards.
The Nationalist Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Malta, along with the Labour Party.
Edoardo "Eddie" Fenech Adami, is a Maltese politician and Nationalist politician who served as the prime minister of Malta from 1987 until 1996, and again from 1998 until 2004. Subsequently, he was the seventh president of Malta from 2004 to 2009. He led his party to win four general elections, in 1987, 1992, 1998 and 2003, as well as the majority of votes in 1981. Staunchly pro-European, Fenech Adami was fundamental for Malta's accession to the European Union.
The Labour Party, formerly known as the Malta Labour Party, is one of the two major political parties in Malta, along with the Nationalist Party. It sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum.
Alfred Sant, is a Maltese politician and a novelist. He led the Labour Party from 1992 to 2008 and served as Prime Minister of Malta between 1996 and 1998 and as Leader of the Opposition from 1992 to 1996 and from 1998 to 2008. Sant is an established writer and playwright and has published several books.
Norman Lowell is a Maltese ultranationalist writer and head and founder of Imperium Europa, a far-right political party. He is also a retired banker and artist.
Malta elects on a national level 6 MEPs representing Malta in the European Parliament, on a district level the legislature, On a local level the Local Councils and on a community level the Administrative Committees.
Simon Busuttil is the Secretary General of the EPP Group in the European Parliament. Formerly, he was Leader of the Opposition. and Leader of the Nationalist Party in Malta and a Member of the European Parliament for Malta.
Joseph Muscat is a Maltese politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Malta from 2013 to 2020 and leader of the Labour Party from 2008 to 2020.
Imperium Europa is a neo-fascist political party in Malta. It was founded in 2000 by Norman Lowell, who is also its leader. Its primary aim is to unite Europe into one political entity.
Democratic Alternative, sometimes referred to as AD – The Green Party, was a green political party in Malta. The party was initially founded by a coalition of former Labour Party members and environmental activists in 1989. On 1 August 2020 the party announced a plan to merge with the Democratic Party to form a new party called AD+PD. The merger was conducted on 17 October 2020.
A referendum on European Union membership was held in Malta on 8 March 2003. The result was 54% in favour. The subsequent April 2003 general elections were won by the Nationalist Party, which was in favour of EU membership, the opposition Labour Party having opposed joining. Malta joined the EU on 1 May 2004.
Angelo "Anġlu" Farrugia is a Maltese politician and the current Speaker of the House of Representatives of Malta. Previously he served Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, a Member of Parliament and Shadow Minister for work, workers' rights and parliamentary affairs.
Roberta Metsola is a Maltese politician. A member of Malta's Nationalist Party (PN) and the European People's Party (EPP), she has been serving as president of the European Parliament since January 2022.
George William Vella is a Maltese politician who has served as president of Malta since 2019. A member of the Labour Party, he previously served as deputy prime minister of Malta and foreign affairs minister from 1996 to 1998 under prime minister Alfred Sant. In 2013, he returned as foreign affairs minister, an office he held until 2017 under prime minister Joseph Muscat.
Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, was a Maltese politician who served as Prime Minister of Malta from December 1984 to May 1987.
The 2014 European Parliament election in Malta elected Malta's delegation to the European Parliament from 2014 to 2019. This was the third such election held in Malta. The elections were held on Saturday, 24 May 2014.
The 2019 European Parliament election was held in Malta on 25 May 2019. 8 different political parties took part in the election, of which, only 2 won seats in the European Parliament; the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party, with 4 and 2 seats respectively.
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| European elections | |
| Local elections | |
| Referendums | |
