General elections were held in Malta on 26 March 2022 to elect all members of the House of Representatives.
The Labour Party, which had governed Malta since 2013, won a second term in 2017 election under Joseph Muscat. Simon Busuttil, the leader of the opposition Nationalist Party, resigned after the 2017 election and was replaced by Adrian Delia. Following the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, Muscat was faced with a political crisis and mass protests in 2019 and resigned in January 2020. Robert Abela succeeded him as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party in January 2020, while Bernard Grech succeeded Delia later that year.
Journalists noted that the campaign was overshadowed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and that it was the "quietest in decades". Six political parties nominated their candidates for the 2022 general election. The Labour Party and its leader campaigned on investing in green urbanism and environmental issues, while the Nationalist Party pledged a one billion investment in ten new economic sectors. The AD+PD campaigned on proposals for LGBT rights, while the People's Party campaigned on increasing the minimum wage and abolishing green passes. Additionally, ABBA supported the investigation into abortion-rights activists, while Volt Malta supported the legalisation of abortion. Opinion polls in the run-up to the election indicated another victory for Labour Party.
The Labour Party retained its majority in parliament, winning a third consecutive election for the first time since 1981 with 55.11% of the popular vote, the largest share since 1955, marginally surpassing the 55.04% it scored in 2017. Voter turnout was 86%. 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. Abela formed his new cabinet four days after the election.
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 Party 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 organised between November 2019 and January 2020 in Malta and among the Maltese diaspora internationally. Muscat announced his resignation in December 2019, which 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 his 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
Most Maltese MPs are elected from 13 five-seat constituencies by single transferable vote using optional preferential voting. 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 achieve the quota, until all five seats are filled.
Other seats are filled to achieve other types of fairness. 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. As well, 12 seats are awarded to unsuccessful candidates of the "under-represented gender" if it receives less than 40 percent of the seats. Thus the Maltese parliament in total has 79 members.
Candidates are allowed to run in two different constituencies, and if elected in both, they must vacate one of the seats. Their replacement is chosen by a "casual election", in which the votes for the vacating candidate are redistributed.
In 2018 the government of Malta lowered the national voting age to 16. During the last legislature a gender-corrective mechanism was introduced, with Article 52A of the Constitution stating that provides for up to 12 additional seats for unelected candidates from "the under-represented sex" in case one of both makes up less than 40% of the elected MPs. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, arrangements were being made for drive-through voting. 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.
Name Ideology Political position Leader 2017 result Votes (%) Seats Labour Party Social democracy Centre-left Joseph Muscat55.04% PN–PD Christian democracy Centre Simon Busuttil43.68%
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 for 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. 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.
Party SeatsLabour Party 36Nationalist Party 28Independent 3
Participating parties The Labour Party filed 122 nominations, while the Nationalist Party filed 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.
Name Founded Leader(s) Main ideology Political position Labour Party 1921 Robert Abela Social democracy Centre-left Nationalist Party 1926 Bernard Grech Christian democracy Centre-right AD+PD 2020 Carmel Cacopardo Green politics Centre-left People's Party 2020 Paul Salomone Right-wing populism Far-right Volt Malta 2021 Arnas LasysAlexia DeBono Progressivism Centre ABBA 2021 Ivan Grech Mintoff Christian right Far-right
Campaign
The campaign began on 21 February, and it lasted until 24 March, while the election silence 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. The Journal noted that the campaign was the "quietest ever", due to "uninspiring proposals" and external events that overshadowed the electoral campaign. According to journalist Julian Bonnici, it was also 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 Party Original slogan English translation Refs Labour Party Malta Together Nationalist Party With you for Malta AD+PD Green Sweeps Clean People's Party Family, Nation, Liberty Volt Malta Vote Better. Vote Volt.
Debates 2022 Maltese general election debatesDateTimeOrganizers LabourNationalistAD+PDVoltPeople'sABBARefs 4 March 11:00 am The Malta ChamberPRobert AbelaPBernard GrechNNNN 10 March 12:00 pm MUDUPRobert AbelaPBernard GrechPCarmel CacopardoNPPaul SalamonePIvan Grech Mintoff 11 March 17:30 pm IRAAPEvarist BartoloPCarm Mifsud BonniciPRalph CassarPArnas LasysNN 14 March 11:00 am Chamber of SMEsPRobert AbelaPBernard GrechNNNN 14 March 11:00 am TVMNNAPKass MalliaPPaul SalamonePIvan Grech Mintoff 16 March 11:00 am CCEIPRobert AbelaPBernard GrechNNNN 23 March 9:00 pm TVMPRobert AbelaPBernard GrechNNNN
Party campaigns Labour Party
The Labour Party began its campaign in late February, during which 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 included investments in green urban areas, an extension to free child care to all, and slashing corporate tax rates. Abela primarily campaigned on environmental issues. Joseph Muscat, the former prime minister, 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 also pledged a one billion investment in ten new economic sectors. In March, the Nationalist Party also stated its support for creating free permits, licences and government services for feast organisers.
AD+PD In total, the AD+PD had presented ten candidates for the election, while their campaign was titled "A green broom cleans". The party launched its campaign on 22 February, and it had campaigned on proposals regarding LGBT rights. The party also noted its support for energy independence through renewable sources.
People's Party The People's Party, a far-right party, was described by Church Militant, a Catholic conservative organisation, as "the only authentically conservative party" during the campaign period. The People's Party stated its support for increasing the minimum wage and the abolishment of green passes.
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 legalisation of abortion. Kass Mallia was Malta's first transgender politician to run for election. Volt Malta presented a proposal for Air Malta 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 supported investigating into pro-choice activists who allegedly broke abortion laws.
Independents