Maltese general election, 2013

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Maltese general election, 2013

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All 69 seats of the House of Representatives.
35 seats needed for a majority

 First partySecond party
  Joseph Muscat, cropped.jpg Lawrence Gonzi 2009.jpg
Leader Joseph Muscat Lawrence Gonzi
Party Labour Nationalist
Leader since6 June 200823 March 2004
Last election34 seats, 48.79%35 seats, 49.34%
Seats won3930
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 5Decrease2.svg 5
Popular vote167,533132,426
Percentage54.83%43.34%
SwingIncrease2.svg 6.04%Decrease2.svg 6.00%
Prime Minister before election

Lawrence Gonzi
Nationalist

Elected Prime Minister

Joseph Muscat
Labour

General elections were held in Malta on Saturday, 9 March 2013. The Labour Party won a majority of seats thus defeating the Nationalist Party, which had been in power since 1987, save a short period of less than two years between 1996 and 1998 when Labour was in government.

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.

Labour Party (Malta) political party in Malta

The Labour Party, formerly known as the Malta Labour Party (MLP), is a social-democratic political party in Malta. Along with the Nationalist Party (PN), the Labour Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in Malta. Since the March 2013 general election, the party has been the governing party in the Maltese House of Representatives. The Labour Party is a member of the Party of European Socialists, and was a member of the Socialist International until December 2014.

Nationalist Party (Malta) political party in Malta

The Nationalist Party is a Christian-democratic, conservative political party in Malta. It is one of two major contemporary political parties in Malta, along with the governing Labour Party. The Nationalist Party is currently in opposition to the Labour Party.

Contents

Background

On 10 December 2012 Lawrence Gonzi's government was defeated in a vote on the 2013 Financial Estimates [1] [2] when ruling party MP Franco Debono voted against the government's budget proposal in protest over transportation reform in giving a German operator the contract to manage the national bus service. [2] Faced with loss of supply, Gonzi announced that the House of Representatives would be dissolved on 7 January and a general election called for 9 March. [3]

Lawrence Gonzi Maltese politician

Lawrence Gonzi, is a Maltese politician, retired Nationalist politician and lawyer, who served for twenty-five years in various critical roles in Maltese politics. Gonzi was Prime Minister of Malta from 2004 to 2013, and leader of the Nationalist Party. He also served as speaker of the House from 1988 to 1996, and Minister of Social Policy from 1998 to 2004, as well as Deputy Prime Minister from 1999 to 2004. He served in practically all positions in Parliament, being also Leader of the House, an MP and Leader of the Opposition.

Franco Debono Maltese politician

Franco Debono is the current Commissioner of Laws of Malta, appointed by the Labour-led administration of Joseph Muscat on 24 March 2013. Debono is a criminal defence lawyer. From 2008 until 2013 served one term as Member of Parliament for the Nationalist Party. During his stay in parliament, Debono became known for frequently rebelling against the Cabinet led by Lawrence Gonzi, which Debono considered an "evil clique" and held responsible for suffocating meritocracy. Debono's opposition was especially noteworthy, because said Cabinet was formed by the Nationalist Party - the same party in whose name Debono contested the previous elections.

Loss of supply occurs where a government in a parliamentary democracy using the Westminster System or a system derived from it is denied a supply of treasury or exchequer funds, by whichever house or houses of parliament or head of state is constitutionally entitled to grant and deny supply. A defeat on a budgetary vote is one such way by which supply can be denied. Loss of supply is typically interpreted as indicating a loss of confidence in the government. Not all "money bills" are necessarily supply bills. For instance, in Australia, supply bills are defined as "bills which are required by the Government to carry on its day-to-day business".

Electoral system

The system of voting used was, as in previous elections, proportional representation through modified single transferable vote with five MPs to be returned from each of thirteen districts, i.e. 65 constituency seats in total, with a variable number of at-large seats added to ensure that the overall first-preference votes are reflected in the composition of the House of Representatives. There were also some minor changes to the boundaries of electoral districts from the previous general election and improved voting arrangements for hospital patients. [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.

Parties

The two leading political parties contesting the election were the Nationalist Party of the incumbent prime minister, [5] Lawrence Gonzi and the Labour Party, led by Joseph Muscat, [6] for whom this was the first general election at the helm of the party. The Third party was Democratic Alternative, a Green Party, which was seeking to elect its first MP. [7] A small number of independent candidates also ran for election.

Joseph Muscat Prime Minister of Malta

Joseph Muscat, is a Maltese politician who has served as Prime Minister of Malta since 2013, and Leader of the Partit Laburista (PL) since June 2008. Muscat was re-elected as Prime Minister on the 3rd of June 2017. Previously he was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2004 to 2008. He was Leader of the Opposition from October 2008 to March 2013. Muscat identifies as a progressive and liberal politician, with pro-business leanings, and has been associated with both economically liberal and socially liberal policies.

Democratic Alternative (Malta)

Democratic Alternative, sometimes referred to as AD – The Green Party, is a green political party in Malta particularly dedicated to environmentalism.

Green politics is a political ideology that aims to create an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. It began taking shape in the western world in the 1970s and since then Green parties have developed and established themselves in many countries around the globe and have achieved some electoral success.

National Action, which stood candidates in the 2008 general election and 2009 European Parliamentary election, ceased activities in 2010 and did not contest this election.

National Action (Malta)

National Action was a right-wing Maltese political party active between 2007 and 2010.

Opinion polls

Date(s) ReleasedPolling institute Nationalist Labour Democratic
Alternative 		Undecided/
No answer 		Lead
7 January 2012 The Sunday Times 25.2%
(46.9%)¤		29.5%
(52.1%)¤		1.0%
(1.0%)¤		44.3%4%
8 July 2012 Misco International 22%32%1%45%10%
14 October 2012 Misco International 22%34%1%43%12%
13 January 2013 The Sunday Times 27%
(44%)¤		33%
(54%)¤		1%
(1%)¤		38%6%
3 March 2013 Malta Today 28.2%40.2%2.4%29.2%12%

¤ Opinion polls adjusted for the preference of undecided voters.

Results

Labourites celebrate at Castille Square after the election. Malta - Valletta - Pjazza Kastilja+election celebration 08 ies.jpg
Labourites celebrate at Castille Square after the election.

Following the preliminary result, in which Labour won 39 seats to 26 for the Nationalists, Labour party leader Joseph Muscat said from Naxxar: "I wasn't expecting such a landslide victory for Labour. We must all remain calm, tomorrow is another day." Nationalist party leader Lawrence Gonzi conceded the election in saying "The Nationalist Party needs to begin a reform process and at the same remain rooted in its values." [8] This was the first time the Labour party won a majority in the government since Malta joined the European Union, [9] as well as being the first Labour government since the new millennium (as the previous one should have ended in 2001, but ended prematurely in 1998). Furthermore, the Labour party won absolute majority of the votes in 23 of the 35 localities, increasing its overall share of the votes by 2.2% from the last elections. [10] The Nationalist Party was subsequently awarded four at-large seats, bringing it to 30 in all, to adjust for its share of the first-preference vote.

Naxxar Local council in Northern Region, Malta

Naxxar is a town in the Northern Region of Malta, with a population of about 13,443 people as of March 2014. The Naxxar Church is dedicated to Our Lady of Victories. The annual village feast is celebrated on 8 September. Naxxar was formerly known for hosting the Maltese International Trade Fair at Maltese International Trade Fair Grounds.

European Union Economic and political union of European states

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2 (1,728,099 sq mi) and an estimated population of about 513 million. The EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where members have agreed to act as one. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the internal market, enact legislation in justice and home affairs and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development. For travel within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished. A monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002 and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency.

e  •  d  Summary of the 9 March 2013 House of Representatives of Malta election results
PartiesVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Labour Party 167,53354.83+6.0439+5
Nationalist Party 132,42643.34–6.0030–5
Democratic Alternative 5,5061.80+0.4900
Ajkla Party470.02New0New
Liberal Alliance120.00New0New
Independents 320.01+0.0000
Invalid/blank votes4,044————
Total309,600100.0–690
Registered voters/turnout330,07293.8–––
Source: Government of Malta, Parliament of Malta

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References

  1. ↑ "Budget rejected as Debono votes with Opposition". Times of Malta. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  2. 1 2 Malta government falls after PM Gonzi loses majority
  3. ↑ "Parliament to be dissolved on 7 January, election on March 9". Times of Malta. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "OSCE/ODIHR NEEDS ASSESSMENT MISSION REPORT". OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. January 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  5. ↑ (in Maltese) Partit Nazzjonalista
  6. ↑ Partit Laburista
  7. ↑ Alternattiva Demokratika
  8. ↑ Labour returns to power in Malta after 15 years
  9. ↑ Malta’s May Elect Labour Party for First Time Since Euro Start
  10. ↑ "Labour Increases Vote by 2%". Malta Today. 16 March 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
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