This article lists political parties in Malta . Since World War II, Maltese political culture has developed into a two-party system dominated by the centre-left Labour Party (Maltese : Partit Laburista) and the centre-right Nationalist Party (Maltese : Partit Nazzjonalista). Although other political parties have presented candidates and, in some cases, elected MPs, in most cases these were splinter groups of the main parties and, on the rare occasions when they were successful, this success was short-lived.
In the case of Local Councils however, independent candidates and village-dedicated parties have better chances of being elected. For example, Għarb l-Ewwel (en: Għarb First) is the only party of this kind to hold representation in a Local Council. There is a total of two elected independent councillors around Malta and Gozo, activist Steve Zammit Lupi in Ħaż-Żebbuġ (Malta) [1] and Nicky Saliba in Żebbuġ (Gozo). For Żebbuġ, Gozo, former PN Mayor Nicky Saliba ran in 2019 as an independent candidate and was elected, causing a deadlock for the mayorship in the 5-seat Żebbuġ council. He was re-elected mayor [2] all the same and remains in this post to this day.
Until 2015, there was no law in Malta requiring the registration and regulation of political parties; the General Elections Act made the necessary provisions for party participation in elections but no official list was maintained between elections. The Financing of Political Parties Act, which passed in 2015 and came into effect on 1 January 2016, introduced the requirement for political parties to register themselves with the Electoral Commission and declare all donations in order to be able to field candidates in general elections and European Parliament elections. [3] The Labour Party was the first party to attempt to register, on 3 June 2016, [4] however its statute was not compliant, [5] therefore making Moviment Patrijotti Maltin the first party to be officially registered, on 24 November 2016. The Labour Party was finally registered on 22 April 2017. [6]
Name | Founded | Ideology | Political position | Leader | House of Representatives | MEPs | Local Councillors | European party | EP group | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
in Government | |||||||||||
Labour Party (PL) | 1920 | Social democracy | Centre-left | Robert Abela | 44 / 79 | 3 / 6 | 252 / 462 | PES | S&D | ||
Independents [a] | Various or N/A | 1 / 79 | N/A | ||||||||
in Opposition | |||||||||||
Nationalist Party (PN) | 1926 | Christian democracy | Centre-right | Bernard Grech | 35 / 79 | 3 / 6 | 208 / 462 | EPP | EPP |
Name | Founded | Ideology | Political position | Leader | Local Councillors | European party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AD+PD | 2020 | Green politics | Centre-left | Sandra Gauci | 2 / 462 | EGP | ||
Għarb First (GĦ1) [8] Għarb l-Ewwel | 2019 | Għarb localism [9] Parish-Council collaboration | — | David Apap | Għarb Local Council: 2 / 5 | — | ||
Floriana First (FL) [10] Floriana l-Ewwel | 2019 | Floriana localism | Nigel Holland | Floriana Local Council: 1 / 5 | ||||
Independents | N/A | Various or N/A | 6 / 462 | Various or N/A |
Name | Founded | Ideology | Position | Leader | European party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABBA [10] | 2021 | Christian right | Far-right | Ivan Grech Mintoff (resigned) | ECPM | ||
Imperium Europa (IE) | 2000 | Neo-fascism | Far-right | Norman Lowell | — | ||
People's Party (PP) Partit Popolari | 2020 | Right-wing populism | Right-wing | Paul Salomone | — | ||
Volt Malta (VM) | 2021 | Social liberalism | Centre-Left | Alexia DeBono Arnas Lasys | Volt Europa |
Name | Founded | Village/Town | Leader | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Residents of Valletta (RB) Residents of Valletta | 2021 | Valletta | Billy McBee |
Name | Ideology | Position | Leader | European party | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maltese Patriots Movement Moviment Patrijotti Maltin (MPM) | Euroscepticism | Far-right | Henry Battistino | — | |
Communist Party of Malta Partit Komunista ta' Malta (PKM) | Marxism–Leninism | Far-left | Victor Degiovanni | Initiative | |
Alleanza Bidla Alliance for Change (AB) [b] | Social conservatism | Right-wing | Ivan Grech Mintoff | ECPM |
The Nationalist Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Malta, along with the Labour Party.
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.
Fifteen general elections have been contested since the granting of universal suffrage in Malta. Only 73 women have contested in these elections. The number of men, on the other hand, has exceeded 1000. The number of women contesting general elections has, however, increased over the years. In fact, the 1998 elections saw 24 women candidates participating, the highest number to date, with six of these getting elected, registering a 25 percent success rate.
Local elections were held in 22 localities in Malta on 10 March 2007. The last round of elections held in 2004, on the same day of the national election for the Maltese Members for the European Parliament (MEPs). Approximately 68% of the eligible voters turned up on election day. With the locality of Safi with the highest percentage (86%); and the locality of Swieqi with the lowest percentage (53%). The largest locality was that of Mosta and the smallest one was that of San Lawrenz, Gozo.
Labour Youths, formerly known as the Labour Youth Forum until 2021, the Young Socialist League until 1992 and the Labour League of Youth until 1974, is the youth organisation of the Labour Party of Malta. ŻL is also active internationally and is an active member within the International Union of Socialist Youth and the Young European Socialists.
Local elections were held in Malta on 8 March 2008, the same day of the general election. This year, the election was held in 23 of the 68 Maltese localities. These 23 localities are: Valletta, Senglea, Żebbuġ, Żejtun, Balzan, Dingli, Fontana, Għajnsielem, Għasri, Iklin, Kirkop, Marsa, Mellieħa, Mqabba, Nadur, Pembroke, Qrendi, San Ġiljan, San Pawl il-Baħar, Santa Venera, Ta' Xbiex, Xewkija and Żurrieq. A separate local election was held on 24 May in Mtarfa, after the previous council was dissolved a monthly earlier. Of the candidates that ran for the Mtarfa May election, in which 3 councillors were elected for the Nationalist Party while 2 councillors were elected for the Malta Labour Party (MLP).
Local elections were held in Malta on 6 June 2009, the same day of the European elections. The elections were held in 23 of the 68 Maltese localities. These 23 localities are: Imdina, Bormla, Rabat, Gozo, Żabbar, Birkirkara, Fgura, Gudja, Għarb, Għaxaq, Kalkara, Lija, Marsaskala, Mġarr, Msida, Imtarfa, Naxxar, Pietà, Malta, Rabat, Malta, San Ġwann, Sannat, Tas-Sliema, Tarxien, and Xgħajra.
General elections were held in Malta on Saturday, 3 June 2017 to elect all members of the House of Representatives. The elections were contested by the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the Nationalist Party, led by opposition leader Simon Busuttil, and four other parties, making it the elections with most parties participating since 1962.
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.
Cyrus Engerer is a former Maltese Member of European Parliament representing the Labour Party. A gay rights activist, he was the leading spokesperson for the Yes campaign at the 2011 Maltese divorce referendum. In 2021 he was tasked with negotiating the European Parliaments historic resolution on the declaration of the European Union as an LGBTQ Freedom zone, in reaction to the establishment of so called "LGBT-Free zones" in Poland. Engerer later went on to write the European Parliaments resolution which condemned the laws in Hungary which effectively banned "LGBT propaganda" in the vicinity of schools. From 2014 till 2019 Engerer was the Prime Minister's special envoy to the European Union. He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in November 2020. After he joined the Labour Party the Police of Malta opened an investigation against him, leading to his father's arrest, the opening of a court case against him on spreading pornography and the arrest of his mother on election day. He himself was convicted for spreading revenge porn and received a suspended two years term imprisonment. He is the partner of Partit Laburista's Member of Parliament Randolph De Battista.
The Democratic Party was a centrist to centre-left political party in Malta. It was founded in 2016 after a split from the Labour Party. It elected Malta's first two third party MPs for the first time since the country's Independence. In August 2020 the party announced an agreement to merge with the green Democratic Alternative party to form a new party called AD+PD. The merger was conducted on 17 October 2020.
Marlene Farrugia is a Maltese former Member of Parliament and former leader of the Democratic Party. Previously she had been a member of the Nationalist Party, with whom she contested the General Elections in 1996 and 1998, and the Labour Party, with whom she was elected in 2008 and 2013, before resigning in 2015. She formed the Democratic Party in 2016, but left it in 2019.
The Alliance for Change is a defunct right-wing Christian-democratic political party in Malta. It is eurosceptic and has expressed socially conservative stances. It was led by Ivan Grech Mintoff, who in 2021 founded ABBA Party. Although the party's social media has not been updated since 2019, as of 2022 Alleanza Bidla still remains a registered political party.
Rosianne Cutajar is a Maltese politician who was formerly a member of the Labour Party. She is a member of the Parliament of Malta representing the Sixth District electoral division. Cutajar was Parliamentary Secretary for Civil Rights and Reforms within the Ministry for Justice, Equality and Governance. As a junior minister within Prime Minister Robert Abela’s government, she was responsible for Malta’s equality and civil rights policy and its implementation, together with the country’s legislative reforms across various sectors of government. Cutajar resigned from her position as parliamentary secretary in February 2021 after calls for her resignation due to links with murder suspect Yorgen Fenech.
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.
Eve Borg Bonello is a Maltese activist and politician who grew to prominence during the 2019-2020 Maltese protests for her vocal opposition to former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and the corruption scandals that triggered the 2019 Malta political crisis and Muscat's eventual resignation.
ABBA is a far-right and Christian right political party in Malta.
Randolph De Battista is a Maltese progressive politician and currently serves as a member of the Parliament of Malta. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer of the Labour Party. He joined the Parliamentary Group following the 2022 General Elections in Malta and represents the 9th Electoral District, having been chosen by Prime Minister Robert Abela to form part of his team. He is the partner of Member of the European Parliament Cyrus Engerer.
Għarb First, is a localist party located in and operating only in Għarb, Gozo, in the Republic of Malta. It was founded by former PN Mayor David Apap Agius to contest the 2019 Maltese local elections. It gained 2 seats out of the 5 total seats in the Għarb Local Council, and 42.86% of the popular vote, narrowly losing the popular vote to PL by 1.95%, or 19 votes. This makes Għarb l-Ewwel the first third party to gain representation in the local level in both the Republic of Malta at-large and on the island of Gozo. This also makes Agius the first mayor of a village that comes from a third party. This was confirmed after a question on who the Mayorship of the Council was solved after the election.
Local council elections were held in Malta and Gozo on 8 June 2024, in tandem with the European Parliament elections. This is the second time that all local councils of Malta shall be elected simultaneously in a single election, following the 2015 reform abolishing the previous system of half-council elections.