1981 Maltese general election

12 December 1981

All 65 seats in the House of Representatives
  First party Second party
 
Leader Dom Mintoff Eddie Fenech Adami
Party Labour Nationalist
Last election 51.53%, 34 seats 48.46%, 31 seats
Seats won 34 31
Seat change Steady Steady
Popular vote 109,990 114,132
Percentage 49.07% 50.92%
Swing Decrease2.46pp Increase2.46pp

Prime Minister before election

Dom Mintoff
Labour

Elected Prime Minister

Dom Mintoff
Labour

General elections were held in Malta on 12 December 1981.[1]

For the 1981 elections, the opposition Nationalist Party, reinvigorated with a new leader, looked set for a serious challenge to Mintoff. In fact, in that election, the Partit Nazzjonalista managed an absolute majority of votes, but it managed only 31 seats to the Labour Party's 34. Dom Mintoff said that he would not be ready to govern in such conditions and hinted that he would call for fresh elections within six months. However, this was not to be: Mintoff eventually accepted the President's invitation to form a government. This led to a political crisis whose effects continued through much of the 1980s, as well as increasing political violence in the street.

The election resulted in controversy because although the Nationalist Party received a majority of votes, the voting system in use led to Malta Labour Party winning a majority of seats and governing the Maltese islands with a disputed mandate, until the 1987 elections. This provoked a constitutional crisis, with the Nationalist Party boycotting parliament.

As a result a compromise was reached whereby changes were made to the voting system to prevent a recurrence of the same problem. Under the new system if a repeat of the 1981 scenario occurs, the party supported by an overall majority of voters is awarded a number of additional seats from a party list, so that it secures a parliamentary majority.[2]

Electoral system

The 1981 election was held under the single transferable vote (PR-STV) system, with five-seat constituencies. Under the agreement reached following the 1981 election additional 'bonus' seats were introduced.

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Nationalist Party114,13250.92310
Malta Labour Party109,99049.07340
Independents290.0100
Total224,151100.00650
Valid votes224,15199.42
Invalid/blank votes1,3150.58
Total votes225,466100.00
Registered voters/turnout238,23994.64
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1302 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Malta: STV With Some Twists ACE
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