Maltese general election, 2008
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The latest Maltese general election for the renewal of the Parliament of Malta was held on March 8, 2008. The incumbent ruling party the Christian Democratic Nationalist Party, led by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, narrowly won over the Social Democratic Malta Labour Party led by Alfred Sant. The election was held on the same day as the Maltese local council elections in 23 of the 68 Maltese local councils. The election was called on 4 February 2008.[1]
Voting began in all 13 districts at 07:00 on 8 March and ended at 23:00, with the voting time extended for an hour due to queues in some areas. The first ballot boxes arrived at the counting centre in Naxxar at 23:52.[2] The counting of ballot papers to ensure that there were no discrepancies ended at about noon, with the actual counting of votes continuing throughout the day.
Initial exit polls and statistics suggested very close results, and indeed the results narrowed as the count progressed. Preliminary results built on statistical projections from the major parties had been expected by around midday, but the extremely slim margin forced electoral officials to complete a full first count, rather than relying upon samples which were far too close to call. PN Secretary General Joe Saliba and MLP Deputy Leader Michael Falzon were directly involved in the statistical computations in the counting hall.
Just before 21:30, the General Secretary of the Nationalist Party, Joe Saliba, declared victory by a margin of 1,200 votes[3] to the ecstatic jubilation of PN counting agents and supporters[4]. MLP deputy leader Michael Falzon later conceded the defeat on March 10 at around 03:00.
Just under 2% of registered voters, 5,266 individuals, did not collect their voting documents[5], so less than 310,000 people were eligible to vote on 8th March. In total, voter turnout was 93%, the lowest in Malta since 1971.[6] Official results issued on the basis of first count votes, showed the Nationalist Party leading the Malta Labour Party, with actual votes being distributed 49.33% to 48.9%, thus giving a lead to the PN of 1,580 votes.[7]
While the PN won the popular vote, they did not win a majority of MPs; the MLP got 34 seats and the PN only 31 seats. Following the election law, the popular vote winning party is thus assigned additional MPs (in this case, four seats) to ensure the party has a majority.[8]
Four major political groups participated in this election: Alternattiva Demokratika (AD), Azzjoni Nazzjonali (AN), Malta Labour Party (MLP), and Partit Nazzjonalista (PN).
As many politicians contested the election in more than one constituency, so-called "casual elections" were held in April 2008 to fill the seats not taken by these candidates; twelve MPs were elected this way, six each for the MLP and the PN.[9]
[edit] Results
| Parties | Votes | % | Change | Seats | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationalist Party (Partit Nazzjonalista) | 143,468 | 49.34 | –2.5 | 35 | ±0 |
| Malta Labour Party (Partit Laburista) | 141,888 | 48.79 | +0.8 | 34 | +4 |
| Democratic Alternative (Alternattiva Demokratika) | 3,810 | 1.31 | +0.6 | — | — |
| National Action (Azzjoni Nazzjonali) | 1,461 | 0.50 | +0.0 | — | — |
| Imperium Europa | 84 | 0.03 | +0.0 | — | — |
| Gozitan Party (Partit Għawdxi) | 37 | 0.01 | +0.0 | — | — |
| Independents (Indipendenti) | 22 | 0.01 | +0.0 | — | — |
| Alpha Liberal Democrats (Alfa Liberali Demokratiku) | 21 | 0.01 | +0.0 | — | — |
| Forward Malta (Forza Malta) | 8 | 0.00 | +0.0 | — | — |
| Total (turnout 93.3%) | 290,799 | 100.0 | 69 | +4 | |
| Source: DOI | |||||
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Michael Carabott, "Election on 8 March: PM shows ‘the way forward’", The Malta Independent, 5 February 2008.
- ^ "First ballot boxes arrive at Naxxar", The Times of Malta, 8 March 2008.
- ^ "PN Declares Election Victory", The Times of Malta, 9 March 2008
- ^ "Malta's PM wins close re-election" BBC News, 10 March 2008
- ^ "The Waiting Game: what to look out for", "The Times of Malta", 9 March 2008.
- ^ "Turnout drops to 93%, lowest since 1971", The Times of Malta, 9 March 2008.
- ^ "Nationalist supporters celebrate a narrow victory", The Times of Malta, 9 March 2008.
- ^ timesofmalta.com - UPDATED: Vote counting almost completed
- ^ Department of Information
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