Edwin Vassallo (born 24 June 1961) is a Maltese politician and businessman formerly from the Nationalist Party who served as a member of the

Parliament of Malta The Parliament of Malta ( mt, Il-Parlament ta' Malta) is the constitutional legislative body in Malta, located in Valletta. The parliament is unicameral, with a democratically elected House of Representatives and the President of Malta. By const ...

from 1996 to 2022. He was elected to Parliament in the

1996 Maltese general election General elections were held in Malta on 26 October 1996.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1302 Although the Malta Labour Party received the most votes, the Nationalist Party won the most seats. Howe ...

, and took office on 5 December 1996, and would serve until 20 February 2022 when Parliament dissolved before the

2022 elections The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2022. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2022 United Nations Security Council election * 2022 national electoral calendar * 2022 local e ...

. Vassallo was defeated in 2022 elections. Vassallo served as a Parliamentary Secretary (junior minister) in various capacities under the premierships of

Eddie Fenech Adami Edoardo "Eddie" Fenech Adami, (born 7 February 1934) 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 ...

and

Lawrence Gonzi Lawrence Gonzi, (born 1 July 1953) is a Maltese people, Maltese politician, retired Nationalist Party (Malta), Nationalist politician and lawyer, who served for twenty-five years in various critical roles in Maltese politics. Gonzi was Prime M ...

from 1998 until 2008. He also served as the mayor of

Mosta Mosta ( mt, Il-Mosta) is a small but densely populated city in the Northern Region of Malta. The most prominent building in Mosta is the Rotunda, a large basilica built by its parishioners' volunteer labour. It features the world's 3rd largest ...

from 2015 to 2016. Vassallo was also a member of the Parliamentary Petitions Committee in the Thirteenth Legislature from 2017 until 2022. A

shopkeeper A shopkeeper is a retail merchant or tradesman; one who owns or operates a small store or shop. Generally, shop employees are not shopkeepers, but are often incorrectly referred to as such. At larger companies, a shopkeeper is usually referred t ...

, Vassallo chose to run in the 1996 elections for the Nationalist Party. Over the years, Vassallo was widely regarded as one of the most Catholic ultra-conservative members of Parliament. The ''

Malta Today ''MaltaToday'' is a twice-weekly English language newspaper published in Malta. Its first edition was published in 1999, and started out as a Friday newspaper. History ''MaltaToday'' was first published on Friday, 19 November 1999. It was edi ...

'' wrote in 2022 that his "shopkeeper mentality gave him a lack of sophistication that ironically brought him the allure of a man of the people, a marked distinction in a party of lawyers." Vassallo had been one of the most vocal opponents of the introduction of

divorce in Malta This article is a general overview of divorce laws around the world. Every nation in the world allows its residents to divorce under some conditions except the Philippines (though Muslims in the Philippines have the right to divorce) and the Vatic ...

, which was approved by voters in a 2011 referendum. He was also the only MP to oppose the introduction of

same-sex marriage in Malta Same-sex marriage in Malta has been legal 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 ...

in 2017, and also voted against a

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

bill in 2018 which integrated the

Istanbul Convention The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, is a human rights treaty of the Council of Europe against violence against women and domestic v ...

into Maltese law.

Post-parliamentary political career

Edwin Vassallo claimed in a video in 2023 to have left the Nationalist Party citing his values and in turn founded a think-tank called the

Solidarity Movement Solidarity ( pl, „Solidarność”, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (, abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”'' ), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. Subseq ...

(Maltese: Moviment Solidarjetà), which he leads as Coordinator. Vassallo, through MS, has collaborated with the People's Party on a press-conference regarding road projects and works in his native

which he claims were full of irresponsibly planned and resulted in injuries due to lack of safety procedures.

Electoral history

General elections

Local elections

Personal life

Edwin Vassallo is married to Caroline, with whom he has 2 sons. The family resides in Mosta. Vassallo is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and his opposition to, and the nay vote to the Marriage Equality Act, were inspired from these beliefs.

References