2022 Maltese General Election

General elections were held in Malta on 26 March 2022 to elect members of the House of Representatives.

The Labour Party (PL), which has governed Malta since 2013, retained its majority in the House of Representatives in the June 2017 election, and Joseph Muscat remained prime minister. Muscat resigned in January 2020, and was succeeded by Robert Abela, and later that year, Bernard Grech succeeded Adrian Delia as the leader of the Nationalist Party.

In total, six parties had filed candidates in the general election. The campaign period was noted as the quietest election period in decades. It was overshadowed due to external events, and opinion polls indicated another Labour Party victory. The Labour Party retained its majority, while the election's turnout was the lowest since 1955. As a result of a constitutional amendment, Article 52(A), passed before the elections, twelve seats were added to the House of Representatives and were given to women from both parties, so as to limit male dominance.

Background

The previous election, which was held in June 2017 saw the Labour Party, which has governed the country since 2013, receive 55% of the popular vote and win 37 out of 67 seats in the House of Representatives. Despite the allegations of corruption towards Joseph Muscat, who had served as prime minister of Malta since 2013, the confidence of the government was renewed in this election. Following the election, Simon Busuttil resigned as leader of the Nationalist Party, and was replaced by Adrian Delia. Daphne Caruana Galizia, a writer and anti-corruption activist who exposed Labour politicians Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri after being named in the Panama Papers leak, was assassinated in October 2017 in a car bomb attack. The assassination eventually culminated into a political crisis that reached its peak during 2019. Subsequently, mass protests were organized between November 2019 and January 2020 in Malta and among the Maltese diaspora. Muscat announced his resignation in December 2019, and it took effect the following month. He remained in the House as a backbencher, but resigned in October 2020.

Robert Abela won the subsequent Labour Party leadership election, defeating Chris Fearne. He was sworn in on 13 January 2020. Abela appointed Miriam Dalli and Clyde Caruana to the new cabinet. However, after not being included in Abela's new cabinet, Deputy Labour Party leader Chris Cardona resigned and retired from politics. In October 2020, Delia lost the leadership election to Bernard Grech, who then succeeded him as leader of the parliamentary opposition. Education minister Justyne Caruana resigned in December 2021, following claims that she abused her power. Labour MP Silvio Grixti also resigned from the House that month.

Electoral system

MPs are elected from 13 five-seat constituencies by single transferable vote. Candidates who pass the Hagenbach-Bischoff quota in the first round are elected, and any surplus votes transferred to the remaining candidates, who will be elected if this enables them to pass the quota. The lowest ranked candidates are then eliminated one-by-one with their preferences transferred to other candidates, who are elected as they pass the quotient, until all five seats are filled. If a party wins a majority of first preference votes but fails to achieve a parliamentary majority, they are awarded seats to ensure a one-seat majority, if they are one of only two parties to obtain seats. In 2018, the government of Malta lowered the national voting age to 16. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, arrangements were being made for drive-through voting. Despite conducting elections under a proportional ranked preferential system, Malta has a stable two-party system, with only the Nationalist Party and Labour Party having a realistic chance of forming a government. No coalition governments have been needed since 1953. Prior to the 2017 elections, when the Democratic Party won two seats running in a joint list with the PN, the last time a party other than the PN or PL won seats was in 1962.

After much speculation, Abela announced the election date on 20 February 2022, with the election set for 26 March. Earlier that morning, the House of Representatives was dissolved by president George Vella, upon Abela's recommendation.

Political parties

The table below lists parties represented in the House of Representatives after the 2017 general election.

Pre-election composition

During the 2017–2022 convocation, several MPs resigned; Emmanuel Mallia resigned upon his appointment as the Maltese High Commissioner for the United Kingdom. Helena Dalli resigned upon her appointment as European Commissioner. Etienne Grech resigned due to personal reasons. Edward Scicluna resigned and was appointed governor of the Central Bank of Malta upon his resignation. The race to fill his seat was won by Gavin Gulia, who however resigned almost immediately after being sworn in, a move that was not seen as democratic. Gulia's seat was filled by then Disability Commissioner Oliver Scicluna.

Marthese Portelli resigned to take a post within the Malta Developers' Association. David Thake, himself a having taken a vacant seat (that of Busuttil), resigned due a tax scandal. Frederick Azzopardi died due to illness in October 2020.

Participating parties

The Labour Party filed 122 nominations, while the Nationalist Party had managed to file 108 nominations. ABBA filed 29 nominations in total, while AD+PD filed 20, and the People's Party filed 15 nominations. Volt Malta only filed four nominations.

Campaign

The campaign began on 21 February, and it lasted until 24 March, while the silent day occurred on 25 March. During the first week of the campaign, Nationalist Party politicians Claudio Grech, Kirsty Debono, and Clyde Puli, decided not to run, including Rachael Scicluna, a Labour politician. Journalists have noted that the campaign has been the "quietest ever", due to uninspiring proposals and external events that overshadowed the electoral campaign. It has also been noted that events that caused the 2019 political crisis and 2019–2020 protests, had "exhausted the voters". Moreover, the outcome was seemed to be already given, with polls indicating another Labour Party victory, but also with the Russian invasion of Ukraine overshadowing the electoral campaign events. Although, the campaign was also termed to be free of major scandals that would influence the outcome of the vote. It was also noted that the Labour Party has spent more money on campaign than the Nationalist Party.

Slogans

Debates

Party campaigns

Labour Party

The Labour Party began its campaign in late February, and the party stated its pledge to convert Floriana's St Anne Street into a public garden. In mid-March, the Labour Party released its election manifesto, which had included an investment in green urban areas, an extension to free childcare to all, slashing corporate tax rates. Abela has primarily campaigned on environmental issues. Former prime minister Joseph Muscat has also participated in Labour Party campaigns.

Nationalist Party

The election program of the Nationalist Party was released on 24 February, which had included 540 proposals in total. The party has also pledged a one billion investment in ten new economic sectors. In March, the Nationalist Party has also stated its support for creating free permits, licenses and government services for feast organizers.

AD+PD

In total, the AD+PD has presented ten candidates for the election, and their campaign was titled "A green broom cleans". The party launched its campaign on 22 February, and it has campaigned on proposals regarding LGBT rights. The party has also noted its support for energy independence through renewable sources.

People's Party

The People's Party had also been termed as far-right by media reports. ''Church Militant'' has described the party as "the only authentically conservative party". It has stated its support for increasing the minimum wage and the abolishment of green passes. The Party has rallied against illegal immigration.

Volt Malta

Volt Malta also presented itself for the first time ever, with two candidates covering four districts. In early March, the party stated its support for the legalization of abortion. Kass Mallia was Malta's first transgender politician to run for election. Volt Malta presented a proposal for AirMalta to become a public limited company through an initial public offering and look for North American travel markets, as well as a ''Diaspora Pass'' to entice the Maltese diaspora to visit Malta.

ABBA

Ivan Grech Mintoff, who previously served as the chairman of Alliance of Change, formed the religious-right ABBA in 2021. In early March, the party presented several candidates that were members of the River of Love religious group. Some candidates were reported to be orientated towards the far-right. ABBA supports investigating into pro-choice activists who allegedly broke abortion laws.

Independents

Arnold Cassola ran as an independent candidate, advocating a cleaner environment, cleaner politics, and a more conscientious society. Perennial candidate Nazzareno Bonnici threw his hat into the ring by mentioning that he will be running for elections on the "Eagle Party" ticket. During the International Women's Day, Bonnici proposed a €4,000 grant for women to get breast implants.

Opinion polls

Expressing a preference

Results

Voting stations were opened from 07:00 to 22:00, and in total, there were 355,075 citizens that had the right to vote in the general election. The turnout at 14:00 was reported at 44.8%, which was eight points lower than in 2017. According to the Electoral Commission of Malta, a total of 304,050 citizens voted, which makes it the lowest turnout since the 1955 election.

Aftermath

Labour Party officials claimed victory shortly after 09:00, with a margin of more than 30,000 votes. Bernard Grech, the leader of the Nationalist Party, conceded defeat. Robert Abela was sworn in on 28 March, and a new government was formed on 30 March 2022. Grech has stated that he will contest the Nationalist Party leadership again. He denounced the incumbent government's tax relief cheques, sent the week before the election, as ploys to influence the election. Grech submitted his nomination on May 13; the leadership election will be held on 27 and 28 May. An opinion poll noted that 70% of councillors believed that Grech should remain as the party leader.

References

{{Maltese elections

Malta
General election
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General elections in Malta