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.
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.
Giorgio Borg Olivier was a Maltese statesman and leading politician. He twice served as Prime Minister of Malta as the Leader of the Nationalist Party. He was also Leader of the Opposition between 1955–1958,and again between 1971–1977.
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.
General elections were held in Malta on 26 October 1996. Although the Malta Labour Party received the most votes,the Nationalist Party won the most seats. However,the Labour Party was awarded an additional four seats to ensure they had a majority in Parliament.
General elections were held in Malta on 17 and 18 September 1976. The Malta Labour Party remained the largest party,winning 34 of the 65 seats.
Tonio Fenech is a Maltese politician who served in the government of Malta as Minister of Finance,Economy and Investment from March 2008 to March 2013,and was a member of the Parliament of Malta from 2003 to 2017.
George Abela,is a Maltese politician who was the eighth president of Malta from April 2009 to April 2014.
Alex Perici Calascione is a Maltese politician and lawyer who currently serves as the deputy leader of the Nationalist Party (PN). He previously served as President of the party's Executive Committee until 2020,and as party treasurer until 2017.
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.
Franco Debono is a Maltese criminal trial lawyer and former Nationalist member of Parliament.
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 Nationalist Party Shadow Cabinet of Dr Simon Busuttil was announced on May 14,2013. It was formed following the 9 March election which replaced the PN majority with a Labour majority.
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.
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.
Edwin Vassallo is a Maltese politician and businessman formerly from the Nationalist Party who served as a member of the Parliament of Malta from 1996 to 2022. He was elected to Parliament in the 1996 Maltese general election,and took office on 5 December 1996,and would serve until 20 February 2022 when Parliament dissolved before the 2022 elections. Vassallo was defeated in 2022 elections. Vassallo served as a Parliamentary Secretary in various capacities under the premierships of Eddie Fenech Adami and Lawrence Gonzi from 1998 until 2008. He also served as the mayor of Mosta from 2015 to 2016. Vassallo was also a member of the Parliamentary Petitions Committee in the Thirteenth Legislature from 2017 until 2022.
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.
