Partit Nazzjonalista

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Partit Nazzjonalista
Nationalist Party
Simon Busuttil (2013)
Party leader Simon Busuttil
founding 1880
Place of foundation Ħamrun
Headquarters Herbert Ganado Street
Pietà HMR 08
Alignment Christian Democracy
Conservatism
Parliament seats
28/67
( 2017 )
International connections CDI
MEPs
2/6
European party EPP
EP Group EPP
Website pn.org.mt

The Partit Nazzjonalista ( English Nationalist Party , PN ) is a conservative Christian Democratic political party in Malta .

history

The Partit Nazzjonalista was founded in 1880 as an "anti-reform party" by Fortunato Mizzi to oppose the cuts made by the colonial power of Great Britain in the local education and justice system. In its early years, the Partit Nazzjonalista was considered a liberal party, which led to disputes between it and the very influential Maltese Roman Catholic Church. However, the conservative profile of the party soon sharpened, which has given it the widespread support of the church to this day.

In the first few years the party was split between "abstentionists" and "anti-abstentionists" (see Sinn Féin ). While the abstentionists did not take advantage of the seats they won in elections to express their protest against the Maltese MPs' little room for maneuver, the anti-abstentionists preferred to cooperate with the colonial power in order to gain a better status for the British colony gain.

After World War I, a broader and more moderate alliance emerged, the Maltese Political Union (UPM). However, the radical and decidedly pro-Italian branch of the alliance split off and founded the Democratic National Party (PDN). Both parties ran in the first parliamentary elections in 1921, but it was agreed not to run in the same constituencies in order not to reduce the chances of the other party. Despite this, the UPM, which emerged as the strongest list in the elections, formed a coalition with the Malta Labor Party .

The UPM and PDN also ran separately in the elections in 1923, but this time they formed a coalition and finally reunited in 1926 under the old name Nationalist Party. A year later, however, the party lost the election to an electoral alliance made up of the Constitutional Party and Labor.

A dispute between the Roman Catholic Church and the Constitutional Party plunged the country into political crisis in 1930 and the elections were postponed to 1932. The PN managed - not least because of the massive influence of the church - to win a landslide victory and to receive 21 of 32 mandates. However, the nationalists did not stay in power long. The colonial power, concerned about the increasing domination of fascist Italy in the Mediterranean and North Africa , removed the government and the previous constitution was suspended. The reason given was the government's plan to increase Italian teaching in schools, which would violate the constitution.

When the Second World War broke out, the nationalists were openly fought by the colonial power because of their proximity to the enemy Italy, and the party leader and other prominent members were first interned and then deported to Uganda . In 1945 the party was not allowed to take part in the elections in which the Labor Party first became the strongest force at the expense of the Constitutional Party.

Despite the repression during World War II, the movement survived and ran in the 1950 elections, before which the Labor Party split into two parties. This meant that the nationalists were again the strongest party and could form a short-lived minority cabinet, which restored the PN's status as a major party.

In the elections in 1951 and 1953, the party remained the strongest force and formed short-lived coalitions with the break-away of Labor, the Malta Workers Party . In 1955 the PN lost the election to the Labor Party and Dom Mintoff became Prime Minister for the first time. In the following years, the PN spoke out against the proposal to integrate Malta into Great Britain, which ultimately also failed because the colonial power had lost interest in the country after the Suez crisis . The constitution was reinstated in 1958 after massive protests by dock workers.

A new constitution was introduced in 1961. In 1962 the party won the elections after an election campaign that focused on the independence question and the crisis between the Labor Party and the still very influential Church. Malta finally gained independence in 1964, and in the first elections that followed in 1966, the PN managed to remain the strongest force. In 1971, the elections were narrowly lost, which started the “Mintoff era”, which is still controversial today, while Malta moved closer to the Warsaw Pact states and also established close contacts with Libya . In 1976, the controversial policy of Labor leader Mintoff was confirmed.

The initial enthusiasm of the Maltese towards the Labor government declined significantly. In the 1981 elections, the PN achieved an absolute majority for the first time since 1933, but it did not succeed in gaining a mandate majority and the party remained in the opposition. A crisis ensued when the PN MPs refused to accept their seats because the Labor Party had only remained in power after the Labor government changed the electoral district boundaries. This fact further damaged the government and in 1987 the PN became the strongest force and ruling party.

Edward Fenech Adami, former Prime Minister and President of Malta from 2004 to 2009

In 1990 the PN government applied for membership in the EU . This was followed by an extensive program of economic liberalization and an increase in public investment, which in 1992 gave the government an increase in votes. Nevertheless, the Labor Party won the 1996 elections and withdrew the application for EU membership. In 1998, however, the PN won the new elections and in 2002 negotiations on EU accession were resumed. The PNd repeated its victory in 2003; Malta joined the EU in 2004. In the parliamentary elections on March 8, 2008 , the PN managed to defend the majority with 49.3% of the vote (MLP: 48.8%) and a wafer-thin lead of around 1500 votes.

In the general election in Malta in 2013 , the Malta Labor Party replaced the Nationalist Party from the government after 15 years.

Election results since 1947

Mandate strength

The number of mandates in the Maltese parliament since 1947 gives the following picture (the total number of mandates is in brackets, majorities or coalition majorities are highlighted):

1947 7 (40)
1950 12 (40)
1951 15 (40)
1953 18 (40)
1955 17 (40)
1962 28 (50)
1966 28 (50)
1971 27 (55)
1976 31 (65)
1981 31 (65)
1987 35 (69)
1992 34 (65)
1996 34 (69)
1998 35 (65)
2003 35 (65)
2008 35 (69)
2013 30 (69)
2017 28 (67)

Local elections

In the local elections in Malta, which last took place in 2009, the PN won 133 out of 272 seats, as many as the MLP. The remaining seats went to Alternattiva Demokratieika and independent candidates.

European elections

In the 2004 and 2009 European elections, the PN was defeated by the MLP and won two of the five seats in the European Parliament .

Party leader

Party leaders (and prime ministers) of the PN were:

influence

In addition to the numerous party clubs, which mostly look like cafes or bars, the PN includes a television station, a radio station and the online newspaper maltarightnow.com. In addition to 35 MEPs in the Maltese Parliament, the PN also has 2 MEPs in the European Parliament who belong to the Group of the European People's Party .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.stern.de/politik/ausland/parlamentswahl-in-malta-klarer-sieg-fuer-die-opposition-1981979.html
  2. ↑ www.gov.mt: Maltese Parliaments - History of the Maltese Parliaments since 1921
  3. ↑ www.gov.mt: Prime Ministers of Malta