2017 Maltese general election
Open-knowledge reference entry
General elections were held in Malta on Saturday, 3 June 2017 to elect all members of the House of Representatives. The elections were contested by the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the Nationalist Party, led by opposition leader Simon Busuttil, and four other parties, making it the elections with most parties participating since 1962.
The Labour Party won a second term in government for the first time since 1976, receiving 55% of the vote, the highest share since 1955. Voter turnout was 92%, down 1pp from 2013.
Background
The previous general elections were held on Saturday, 9 March 2013. The Labour Party, led by Muscat, defeated the incumbent Nationalist Party of Lawrence Gonzi in a landslide victory, taking 39 seats in the House of Representatives, against 30 for the Nationalist Party. However, on 5 February 2015 the Constitutional Court ordered two additional seats to be given to the Nationalist Party, increasing the total number of seats to 71. The Labour Party then lost a seat when Marlene Farrugia resigned from the Labour parliamentary group, to later form the Democratic Party.
Following the defeat, Gonzi stepped down as leader of the Nationalists, with Simon Busuttil taking his place on 13 May.
Muscat was sworn in as the new Prime Minister on 11 March.
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