General election in Malta 2008

General election in Malta 2008

 %

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

49.34%

48.79%

1.31%

0.56%

PN

PL

AD

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to 2003

 % p

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

-2.45  % p

+1.28  % p

+0.63  % p.p.

+0.54  % p

PN

PL

AD

Otherwise.

  

A total of 69 seats

• PL : 34
• PN : 35

The 2008 general election in Malta for the election of the representatives of the House of Representatives , the Parliament of the Republic of Malta , took place on March 8, 2008.

Several parties competed for the 65 seats in parliament. Due to the right to vote, it was anticipated in advance that only two parties would move into parliament again, namely the Christian Democratic ruling party Nationalist Party (NP) led by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and the largest opposition party, the social democratic Malta Labor Party (MLP) Alfred Sant . In addition to these two traditional parties, two smaller parties competed nationwide: the green Alternattiva Demokratieika (AD) and the right-wing Azzjoni Nazzjonali (AN).

For the result of the last election see: List of MEPs from Malta (10th legislative term) .

The polling stations are traditionally open between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Due to the bad weather, the electoral commission decided to keep the polling stations open until 23:00 in 2008.

Election results

The Maltese electoral system is based on the system of transferable individual voting (STV) . There are 13 constituencies, each with five seats. However, a party that achieves a majority of the votes nationwide ( popular vote ) without winning a majority of the seats in the constituencies at the same time receives so many additional seats that it also has a majority in parliament.

This was the case in the 2008 election. The Malta Labor Party won 34 seats and the Nationalist Party ( Maltese Partit Nazzjonalista , PN) only 31. Overall, the NP had a narrow lead of around 1,500 votes: it achieved 49.3 percent nationwide, while the MLP had 48.8 Percent came. For this reason, the NP was awarded four additional parliamentary seats, so that it achieved a total of 35 and the MLP 34 seats.

A major reason for the MLP's electoral defeat was the good performance of the green Alternattiva Demokratieika , which, with 1.31 percent, achieved the second-best result in its party history, but did not get a seat in parliament.

Political party	be right	proportion of	Seats
Nationalist Party	143,468	49.34% (-2.5% p)	35 (± 0)
Malta Labor Party	141,888	48.79% (+1.3% p)	34 (+4)
Alternattiva Demokratika	3.810	1.31% (+ 0.6% p)	-
Azzjoni Nazzjonali	1,461	0.50% (+0.5% p)	-
Others	172	0.06% (+ 0.1% p)	-

For the individual MEPs see: List of MEPs from Malta (11th legislative term) .

Government formation

On March 12, 2008, Lawrence Gonzi was sworn in as Prime Minister for the 11th legislative term.

→ Main article : Lawrence Gonzi II cabinet

Individual evidence

1. ↑ UPDATED: Vote counting almost completed ( Memento of March 14, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) timesofmalta.com
2. ↑ Tages-Anzeiger : ruling party wins elections by a thin margin ( memento of March 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ DOI