Maltese general election, 1947

Last updated
Malta
Coat of arms of Malta.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Malta
Foreign relations

General elections were held in Malta between 25 and 27 October 1947. [1] They were the first elections held under universal suffrage for women [2] and Agatha Barbara became the first woman elected to Parliament. These elections saw the Labour Party win 24 of the 40 seats.

Malta island republic in Europe

Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. It lies 80 km (50 mi) south of Italy, 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunisia, and 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya. With a population of about 475,000 over an area of 316 km2 (122 sq mi), Malta is the world's tenth smallest and fifth most densely populated country. Its capital is Valletta, which is the smallest national capital in the European Union by area at 0.8 km.2 The official languages are Maltese and English, with Maltese officially recognised as the national language and the only Semitic language in the European Union.

Universal suffrage Political concept

The concept of universal suffrage, also known as general suffrage or common suffrage, consists of the right to vote of all adult citizens, regardless of property ownership, income, race, or ethnicity, subject only to minor exceptions. In its original 19th-century usage by political reformers, universal suffrage was understood to mean only universal manhood suffrage; the vote was extended to women later, during the women's suffrage movement.

Women in Malta refers to, amongst others, the social status of women in the Maltese society in different context of Maltese history, past and present.

Contents

Electoral system

The elections were held using the single transferable vote system. Property qualifications for voters were abolished, and women were also allowed to vote for the first time. [3] The number of seats was increased from 10 to 40. [4]

The single transferable vote (STV) is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through ranked voting in multi-seat organizations or constituencies. Under STV, an elector (voter) has a single vote that is initially allocated to their most preferred candidate. Votes are totalled and a quota derived. If their candidate achieves quota, he/she is elected and in some STV systems any surplus vote is transferred to other candidates in proportion to the voters' stated preferences. If more candidates than seats remain, the bottom candidate is eliminated with his/her votes being transferred to other candidates as determined by the voters' stated preferences. These elections and eliminations, and vote transfers if applicable, continue until there are only as many candidates as there are unfilled seats. The specific method of transferring votes varies in different systems.

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Labour Party 63,14559.924+15
Nationalist Party 19,04118.07New
Democratic Action Party 14,01013.34New
Gozo Party 5,4915.23New
Jones Party 3,6643.52New
Independents1430.10–1
Invalid/blank votes647–––
Total106,14110040+30
Registered voters/turnout140,70375.4––
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Related Research Articles

1987 Maltese general election

General elections were held in Malta on 9 May 1987. Although the Nationalist Party received the most votes, the Malta Labour Party won a majority of seats. However, in accordance with the modifications made to the electoral system following a similar outcome in the 1981 elections, the Nationalist Party was awarded an extra four seats in order to give them a parliamentary majority.

1971 Maltese general election

General elections were held in Malta between 12 and 14 June 1971. The Malta Labour Party emerged as the largest party, winning 28 of the 55 seats.

1966 Maltese general election

General elections were held in Malta between 26 and 28 March 1966. The Nationalist Party remained the largest party, winning 28 of the 50 seats.

Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 31 October 1971. Although the Social Democratic Party received the most votes, the Free Democratic Party emerged as the largest party in the National Council, winning 49 of the 200 seats. They were the first federal elections in which women were allowed to vote, following a referendum earlier in the year that introduced universal suffrage for federal elections.

1962 Maltese general election

General elections were held in Malta between 17 and 19 February 1962. The Nationalist Party emerged as the largest party, winning 25 of the 50 seats.

1955 Maltese general election

General elections were held in Malta between 26 and 28 February 1955. The Malta Labour Party remained the largest party, winning 23 of the 40 seats.

1953 Maltese general election

General elections were held in Malta between 12 and 14 December 1953. The Malta Labour Party emerged as the largest party, winning 19 of the 40 seats. However, the Nationalist Party formed a government with the Malta Workers Party on 9 January 1954 with Giorgio Borġ Olivier continuing as Prime Minister.

1951 Maltese general election

Early general elections were held in Malta between 5 and 7 May 1951. They came less than a year after the previous elections as a result of disagreements in the coalition government formed by the centre-right Nationalist Party and centre-left Malta Workers Party. Although the Malta Labour Party received the most votes, the Nationalist Party remained the largest party, winning 15 of the 40 seats. Despite their previous disagreements, the Nationalist Party and Workers Party formed a new government.

1950 Maltese general election

General elections were held in Malta between 2 and 4 September 1950. Following the Labour Party splitting into the Malta Labour Party and the Malta Workers Party, the Nationalist Party emerged as the largest party, winning 12 of the 40 seats.

1882 Italian general election

General elections were held in Italy on 29 October 1882, with a second round of voting on 5 November. The "ministerial" left-wing bloc emerged as the largest in Parliament, winning 289 of the 508 seats.

1923 Icelandic parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Iceland on 27 October 1923. Voters elected all 28 seats in the Lower House of the Althing and eight of the fourteen seats in Upper House. The Citizens' Party, a loose collection of conservatives, emerged as the largest party in the Lower House, winning 16 of the 28 seats.

1922 Liechtenstein general election

General elections were held in Liechtenstein on 5 February 1922, with a second round on 16 February. They were the first elections held under the 1921 constitution, which resulted in some changes to the electoral system. The result was a victory for the opposition Christian-Social People's Party, which won 11 of the 15 seats.

1921 Maltese general election

General elections were held in Malta on 18 and 19 October 1921. The Maltese Political Union emerged as the largest party, winning 14 of the 32 seats in the Legislative Assembly and four of the seven elected seats in the Senate. Joseph Howard became Prime Minister.

1924 Maltese general election

General elections were held in Malta on 9 and 10 June 1924. The Maltese Political Union and the Constitutional Party both won 10 of the 32 seats.

1927 Maltese general election

General elections were held in Malta between 7 and 9 August 1927. Although the Nationalist Party received the most votes, the Constitutional Party emerged as the largest party, winning 15 of the 32 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The Nationalist Party remained the largest party in the Senate with four of the seven elected seats.

1932 Maltese general election

General elections were held in Malta between 11 and 13 June 1932. The Nationalist Party emerged as the largest party, winning 21 of the 32 seats in the Legislative Assembly and five of the seven elected seats in the Senate.

1939 Maltese general election

General elections were held in Malta between 22 and 24 July 1939. The Constitutional Party emerged as the largest party, winning 6 of the 10 seats.

1945 Maltese general election

General elections were held in Malta between 10 and 12 September 1945. The Labour Party was the only party to contest the elections, and won nine of the 10 seats.

1934 Portuguese legislative election

Parliamentary elections were held in Portugal on 16 December 1934, the first following the establishment of the one-party state known as the Estado Novo. The National Union was the only party to contest the elections, and no opposition candidates were allowed to run. It subsequently won all seats in the National Assembly, three of which were taken by women.

Folketing elections were held in Denmark on 7 June 1864. The National Liberal Party emerged as the largest faction, winning 40 of the 101 seats. Following the elections, Christian Albrecht Bluhme became Prime Minister on 7 July.

References

  1. ↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1302 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ↑ Rudolf, Uwe Jens; Berg, Warren G. (2010). Historical Dictionary of Malta. Scarecrow Press. p. 14. ISBN   9780810873902.
  3. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p1298
  4. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p1309
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.