Malta - Politics

After the council of ministers decided in 1995 to accept Malta as a candidate to join the European Union, the Nationalist Party (PN) government set about preparing the country for accession – introducing VAT and removing some import tariffs.

However, VAT was unpopular, and the changes as a whole controversial, so the next parliamentary elections, scheduled for 1997, were brought forward to October 1996 to settle the issue of EU membership and its required economic disciplines. The elections resulted in a narrow win for the Malta Labour Party (MLP) – 50.7% to the PN’s 47.8% – with a voter turnout of 98% of the registered voters. On taking office as prime minister, Dr Alfred Sant immediately withdrew Malta’s application to join the EU and pulled out of NATO’s Partnership for Peace plan.

The Labour government sought to emphasise Malta’s traditional policy of neutrality and to develop its position as a crossroads between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Also, it formed a commission to look into the possibility of legalising divorce.

During 1998, the MLP had a majority of one vote in the House of Representatives and on two occasions when former Labour Prime Minister Dom Mintoff had voted with the Nationalist opposition (to defeat a development project affecting his own constituency), it had not been able to command a majority.

The general election scheduled for 2001 was brought forward to September 1998, when the PN, still led by Dr Edward Fenech-Adami, won 35 of the 65 parliamentary seats and received an endorsement for its planned application for EU membership. It was nevertheless a closely fought contest; in a 98.6% poll, 51.8% of the votes were for the PN and 47.0% for the MLP.

Following the elections the PN government immediately reactivated its application to join the EU and resumed its preparations for accession, and in December 1999 Malta was formally invited to enter into negotiations on accession with a view to joining in 2004.

Although the referendum in 2003 on EU membership gave the government a mandate to proceed with ratifying the treaty for accession in May 2004, the opposition continued to insist that it would take Malta out of the Union if they won the election in 2004, and so the government called an early election, which in April 2003 decisively closed the debate. The PN won the hard-fought contest with 34 of the 65 seats and 51.8% of the votes, a decisive result in a country where the two main parties normally each enjoy the support of about half the electorate. Following the election, the MLP decided to end its opposition to EU membership, thus ending a long and intense period when political activity was focused on one issue.

In March 2004, soon after Fenech-Adami’s 70th birthday, Dr Lawrence Gonzi succeeded him as prime minister and in April 2004 Fenech-Adami was elected to the presidency.

The Nationalist Party was returned to power in the March 2008 parliamentary elections, winning 35 seats (49.3% of votes) while MLP secured the balance of 34 seats (48.8%). Turnout was 93%.

In April 2009, at the end of Fenechi-Adami’s five-year term, Dr George Abela was unanimously elected as president by parliament.