General elections were held in
Malta on 12 December 1981.
Dieter Nohlen
Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...
& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1302
For the 1981 elections, the opposition
Nationalist Party, reinvigorated with a new leader, looked set for a serious challenge to Mintoff. In fact, in that election, the ''Partit Nazzjonalista'' managed an absolute majority of votes, but it managed only 31 seats to the Labour Party's 34.
Dom Mintoff said that he would not be ready to govern in such conditions and hinted that he would call for fresh elections within six months. However, this was not to be: Mintoff eventually accepted the President's invitation to form a government.
This led to a political crisis whose effects continued through much of the 1980s, as well as increasing
political violence
Political violence is violence which is perpetrated in order to achieve political goals. It can include violence which is used by a state against other states (war), violence which is used by a state against civilians and non-state actors (forced ...
in the street.
The election resulted in controversy because although the
Nationalist Party received a majority of votes, the voting system in use led to
Malta Labour Party winning a majority of seats and governing the Maltese islands with a disputed mandate, until the
1987 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 1987.
Africa
* 1987 Central African Republic parliamentary election
* 1987 Comorian legislative election
* 1987 Djiboutian general election
* 1987 Ethiopian general election
* 1987 Gambian general ele ...
. This provoked a
constitutional crisis, with the Nationalist Party boycotting parliament.
As a result a compromise was reached whereby changes were made to the voting system to prevent a recurrence of the same problem. Under the new system if a repeat of the 1981 scenario occurs, the party supported by an overall majority of voters is awarded a number of additional seats from a party list, so that it secures a parliamentary majority.
Malta: STV With Some Twists
ACE
Electoral system
The 1981 election was held under the single transferable vote (PR-STV) system, with five-seat constituencies. Under the agreement reached following the 1981 election additional 'bonus' seats were introduced.
Results
References
{{Maltese elections
General elections in Malta
General
Malta
Malta