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.
After independence in 1964,Malta followed a policy of close co-operation with NATO countries. Since 1971,the country sought relations with the rest of the world,including communist countries in Eastern Europe and the non-aligned countries.
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.
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.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Malta since 1 September 2017,following the passage of legislation in the Parliament on 12 July 2017. The bill was signed into law by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca on 1 August 2017. On 25 August 2017,the Minister for Equality,Helena Dalli,issued a legal notice to commence the law on 1 September.
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.
Konrad Mizzi is a Maltese politician and served as a Member of Parliament until 2022. He served as Minister for Energy and the Conservation of Water between 2013 and 2014,Minister for Energy and Health from 2014 until 2016,and as a Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister in April 2016.
Cyrus Engerer is a 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.
Jason Azzopardi is a Maltese politician and lawyer. He graduated as Doctor of Laws with a master's degree in financial services from the University of Malta in 1996 and that year he started practicing as a private criminal lawyer in the courts of Malta.
Keith Schembri is Maltese businessman and political strategist who served as Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat from 11 March 2013 to 26 November 2019. Schembri resigned in relation to the murder investigation of Daphne Caruana Galizia and in course of the political crises in Malta. The crisis also led to unprecedented protests in Malta,which called for Schembri's resignation.
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.
Daphne Anne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese writer,journalist,blogger and anti-corruption activist,who reported on political events in Malta and was known internationally for her investigation of the Panama Papers,and subsequent assassination by car bomb. In particular,she focused on investigative journalism,reporting on government corruption,nepotism,patronage,and allegations of money laundering,links between Malta's online gambling industry and organized crime,Malta's citizenship-by-investment scheme,and payments from the government of Azerbaijan. Caruana Galizia's national and international reputation was built on her regular reporting of misconduct by Maltese politicians and politically exposed persons.
Godfrey Farrugia,is a Maltese retired politician,a family doctor,who served as member of the Maltese parliament from 2013 to 2022. He formerly served as the Minister for Health and a Government Whip,of which he resigned from both posts partially for his lack of trust with the Labour Party in Government.
Rosianne Cutajar is a Maltese politician who is 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 Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister of Malta,officially called Head of Secretariat of the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Malta,is the most senior political appointee in the Office of the Prime Minister of Malta. The chief of staff is appointed by the prime minister as its senior aid. This position acts as the principal advisor to the prime minister and it coordinates the work action of the different departments of the government.
A political and institutional crisis within the Republic of Malta followed the uncovering of alleged links between government officials and the 2017 assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Keith Schembri and Minister for Tourism Konrad Mizzi resigned following the arrest of businessman Yorgen Fenech in connection with the murder.
The 2019–2020 Maltese protests started in Valletta and other urban centres of Malta on 20 November 2019,mainly calling for resignations after alleged political links to the assassination of journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia surfaced following the arrest of businessman Yorgen Fenech. The protesters also targeted government corruption and the lack of action on money laundering. The protests consisted of demonstrations,marches,sit-ins,and civil disobedience and have been unprecedented in Malta's political history since its independence from the United Kingdom.
Deborah Schembri is a Maltese politician and attorney who was a member of the Parliament of Malta from 2013 to 2017. She is known for leading the pro-divorce movement during the 2011 Maltese divorce referendum.
Clyde Caruana is a Maltese politician within the Labour Party,since November 2020 Minister for Finance and Employment.
