Politics of Malta
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The politics of Malta take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Malta is the constitutional head of state with executive powers remaining with the Prime Minister of Malta who is the head of government and the cabinet. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament with the Speaker 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 (Partit Nazzjonalista) and the social democratic Malta Labour Party (Partit Laburista).
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[edit] Legislative branch
Elections to the House of Representatives (Il-Kamra tar-Raprezentanti) are based on the single transferable vote system, which in turn is a variant of the proportional representation electoral system. First vacancies are filled through casual election and subsequent vacancies through co-option, meaning that no by-elections are held between one general election and the other. The Parliamentary term cannot exceed five years.
Ordinarily, 65 members are elected to the House from 13 multi-seat constituencies each returning 5 MPs. Additional MPs are elected in two circumstances:
- when a party achieves 50%+1 of first-preference valid votes in the election but does not secure a Parliamentary majority it is awarded enough seats (filled by the best runner-up candidates) to make a Parliamentary majority
- when in an election contested by more than two parties only two parties are elected to Parliament and the relative Parliamentary strength is not proportionate to the first preference votes obtained, additional seats are allocated to establish proportionality
[edit] Political parties and elections
| Parties | Votes | % | Change | Seats | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationalist Party (Partit Nazzjonalista) | 143,468 | 49.34 | –2.5 | 35 | ±0 |
| Malta Labour Party (Partit Laburista) | 141,888 | 48.79 | +0.8 | 34 | +4 |
| Democratic Alternative (Alternattiva Demokratika) | 3,810 | 1.31 | +0.6 | — | — |
| National Action (Azzjoni Nazzjonali) | 1,461 | 0.50 | +0.0 | — | — |
| Imperium Europa | 84 | 0.03 | +0.0 | — | — |
| Gozitan Party (Partit Għawdxi) | 37 | 0.01 | +0.0 | — | — |
| Independents (Indipendenti) | 22 | 0.01 | +0.0 | — | — |
| Alpha Liberal Democrats (Alfa Liberali Demokratiku) | 21 | 0.01 | +0.0 | — | — |
| Forward Malta (Forza Malta) | 8 | 0.00 | +0.0 | — | — |
| Total (turnout 93.3%) | 290,799 | 100.0 | 69 | +4 | |
| Source: DOI | |||||
[edit] Political developments since independence
Since Independence, general elections have been held in 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1987, 1992, 1996, 1998 , 2003 and 2008. Two parties have dominated Malta's polarized and evenly-divided politics during this period: the Partit Nazzjonalista and the Partit Laburista. Third parties have failed to score any electoral success: in the last election 2008 the Democratic Alternative (a Green Party established in 1989) managed to secure only 1.31% of the first preference votes nationwide. Elections have invariably generated a widespread voter turnout exceeding 90% of registered voters.
The 1996 elections resulted in the election of the Labour Party, by 8,000 votes, to replace the Nationalists who had won in 1987 and 1992. Voter turnout was characteristically high at 96%, with the Labour Party receiving 50.72%, the Nationalist Party 47.8%, the Democratic Alternative 1.46%, and independent candidates 0.02%. In 1998, the Labour Party's loss in a parliamentary vote led the Prime Minister to call an early election. The Nationalist Party was returned to office in September 1998 by a majority of 13,000 votes, holding a five-seat majority in Parliament. Voter turnout was 95%, with the Nationalist Party receiving 51.81%, the Labour Party 46.97%, the Democratic Alternative 1.21%, and independent candidates 0.01%.
The Nationalist government wrapped up negotiations for European Union membership by the end of 2002. A referendum on the issue was called in March of 2003 for which the Nationalists and the Democratic Alternative campaigned for a "yes" vote while Labour campaigned heavily for "no" vote, invalidate their vote or abstain. Turnout was 91%, with more than 53% voting "yes".
The Labour Party argued that the "yes" votes amounted to less than 50% of the overall votes, hence, and citing the Integration referendum as an example, they claimed that the "yes" had not in fact won the referendum. The then MLP Leader Alfred Sant said that the General Elections that was to be held 4 days later would settle the affair. In the General Elections the Nationalists were returned to office with 51.79% of the vote to Labour's 47.51%. The Democratic Alternative managed 0.68%. The Nationalists were thus able to form a government and sign and ratify the EU Accession Treaty.
On 1 May 2004 Malta joined the EU and on 1 January 2008, the Eurozone with the euro as the national currency. The first elections after membership were held in March 2008 resulting in a narrow victory for the Nationalist Party with 49.34% of first preference votes.
[edit] Executive branch
Under its 1964 constitution, Malta became a parliamentary democracy within the Commonwealth. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was sovereign of Malta, and a Governor-General exercised executive authority on her behalf, while the actual direction and control of the government and the nation's affairs were in the hands of the cabinet under the leadership of a Maltese prime minister.
On December 13, 1974, the constitution was revised, and Malta became a republic within the Commonwealth, with executive authority vested in the President of Malta. The president is elected by the House of Representatives for a five-year term. He appoints as Prime Minister the leader of the party with a majority of seats in the unicameral House of Representatives, known in Maltese as Kamra tar-Rappreżentanti.
The President also nominally appoints, upon recommendation of the Prime Minister, the individual ministers. Ministers are selected from among the members of the House of Representatives, which usually consists of 65 members unless bonus seats are given to a party which gains an absolute majority of votes but not a Parliamentary majority. Elections must be held at least every 5 years and the electoral system used is single transferable vote.
[edit] Judicial branch
Malta's judiciary is independent. The President appoints the chief justice and 16 judges. Their mandatory retirement age is 65. There is a civil court, a commercial court, and a criminal court. In the latter, the presiding judge sits with a jury of nine. The court of appeal hears appeals from decisions of the civil court and of the commercial court. The court of criminal appeal hears appeals from judgments of conviction by the criminal court. The highest court, the Constitutional Court, hears appeals in cases involving violations of human rights, interpretation of the constitution, and invalidity of laws. It also has jurisdiction in cases concerning disputed parliamentary elections and electoral corrupt practices. There also are inferior courts presided over by a magistrate.my name is lovable
[edit] Administrative divisions
Malta is divided into 68 elected local councils, with each council responsible for the administration of cities or regions of varying sizes. Administrative responsibility is distributed between the local councils and the central government in Valletta. The Local Councils Act, 1993 (Act XV of 1993) was published on June 30, 1993, subdividing Malta into 54 local councils in Malta and 14 in Gozo. The inhabitants who are registered elect the Council every 3 years, as voters in the Local Councils' Electoral Register. Elections are held by means of the system of proportional representation using the single transferable vote. The mayor is the head of the Local Council and the representative of the Council for all effects under the Act. The Executive Secretary, who is appointed by the Council, is the executive, administrative, and financial head of the Council. All decisions are taken collectively with the other members of the Council. Local councils are responsible for the general upkeep and embellishment of the locality, local wardens, and refuse collection, and carry out general administrative duties for the central government such as collection of government rents and funds, and answering government-related public inquiries.
[edit] International organization participation
Malta is member of C, CE, EBRD, ECE, EU (member from 1 May 2004), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Malta was a long-time member of NAM. It ceased to be part of the movement when it joined the European Union.
