The next general election will be held in Malta by 2027 to elect all

members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. The Labour Party, which had governed Malta since

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, won a third term in the 2022 election under

Robert Abela Robert Abela (born 7 December 1977) is a Maltese lawyer and politician who has served as prime minister of Malta and leader of Labour Party since 2020. The son of former President George Abela, he was elected to Parliament in 2017. Abela was ...

. Shortly after the election,

Bernard Grech Bernard Grech (born 8 June 1971) is a Maltese politician and lawyer who has been the leader of the Nationalist Party since 2020. Early and professional life Grech was born on 8 June 1971, in Paola to John and Frida Grech. He grew up in Birż ...

was re-elected unopposed for the leader of the Nationalist Party.

Background

The previous election, which was held in March 2022, saw the Labour Party, which has governed the country since 2013, receive 55% of the popular vote and win 44 out of 79 seats in the

, the

prime minister of Malta The prime minister of Malta ( mt, Prim Ministru ta' Malta) is the head of government, which is the highest official of Malta. The Prime Minister chairs Cabinet meetings, and selects its ministers to serve in their respective portfolios. The P ...

and leader of the Labour Party since 2020, and his new cabinet were sworn in on 30 March 2022.

, the leader of the Nationalist Party, was re-elected unopposed in May 2022.

Electoral system

MPs are elected from 13 five-seat constituencies by

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate ...

. Candidates who pass the

Hagenbach-Bischoff quota The Hagenbach-Bischoff quota (also known as the Newland-Britton quota or the exact Droop quota, as opposed to the more common rounded Droop quota) is a formula used in some voting systems based on proportional representation (PR). It is used in ...

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. Despite conducting elections under a proportional ranked preferential system, Malta has a stable

two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually refe ...

, with only the Labour Party and Nationalist Party having a realistic chance of forming a government. Prior to the 2017 election, when the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

won two seats while running in a joint list with the Nationalist Party, the last time a party other than the Labour Party or the Nationalist Party won seats was in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

. In 2018, the

government of Malta A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

lowered the national voting age to 16. During the 2017–2022 legislature a gender-corrective mechanism was introduced, with Article 52(A) 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.

Political parties

The table below lists parties represented in the House of Representatives after the 2022 general election.

Pre-election composition

Opinion polls

References

{{Maltese elections Opinion polling for future elections Future elections in Europe General elections in Malta