Nationalist Party (Malta)
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox political party
The Nationalist Party (Template:Langx, PN) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Malta, along with the Labour Party.
It is a Christian democratic,<ref name="Nordsieck">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Slomp2011">Template:Cite book</ref> and conservative political party,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and it has been described as sitting on the centre<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> to centre-right on the political spectrum.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is supportive of Malta's membership in the European Union.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It is currently in opposition to the Labour Party. Since independence in 1964, the Nationalist Party has won six out of the thirteen general elections, in 1966, 1987, 1992, 1998, 2003 and 2008. In 2008 it won with a paper-thin majority of around 1500 votes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
Foundation and early years (1880–1918)
The Nationalist Party's roots lie in the important language question of the late 19th century, when the colonial government in Malta tried to give the English language the importance Italian had held in schools, administration, and law courts. Fortunato Mizzi, who was a lawyer at the time, strongly opposed these reforms, and in 1880, he set up the "Partito Anti-Riformista" (Anti-Reform Party).<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref> He and his followers also wanted a better constitution for the island, as the one imposed at the time had been granted by governor Richard More O'Ferrall in 1849, and gave the Maltese little power.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This was because the governor was to appoint more members to the council of government than there were to be elected by the voters.Template:Citation needed
Against the Anti-Reform Party stood the Reform Party, founded by Sigismondo Savona in 1879. The Reform Party was in favour of the language reforms being imposed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1886, Fortunato Mizzi, together with Gerald Strickland (another anti-reformist at the time), went to London to demand a new constitution for the islands, which would give them representative government.Template:Citation needed This constitution was granted in 1887 (known as the Knutsford Constitution), and added more elected members to the council of government than official (appointed) members.Template:Citation needed
During the next few years, the party was divided between abstentionists and anti-abstentionists.Template:Citation needed The abstentionists would immediately resign their post in the Council of Government immediately upon election as a protest against the token representation of the electorate on the council; the anti-abstentionists favoured co-operation with the colonial authorities in order to work for a better constitution.Template:Citation needed
This practice of abstentionism led to the 1887 constitution being withdrawn, and in 1903, a new one was given instead, similar to that of 1887.Template:Citation needed
Interwar period (1918–39)
Following the First World War a broader and more moderate coalition, the Maltese Political Union (UPM), was formed but a more radical and pro-Italian group, the Democratic Nationalist Party (PDN), split from the main party.Template:Citation needed The two groups contested the first legislative elections of 1921 but in separate constituencies so as not to damage each other's chances. However, after elections the UPM, which emerged as the largest Party in the Legislative Assembly, chose Labour as its coalition partner.Template:Citation needed
The parties again contested the 1924 elections separately although this time they did form a coalition, eventually merging in 1926 under the old name of Nationalist Party.Template:Citation needed It lost its first elections as a re-unified Party in 1927 to the "Compact", an electoral alliance between the Constitutional Party and Labour.Template:Citation needed
A constitutional crisis, resulting from a dispute between the Church and the Constitutional Party, meant that elections were suspended in 1930.Template:Citation needed They were held again in 1932 when the Nationalists emerged victorious (21 seats out of 32). However, the Nationalists did not last long in government.Template:Citation needed The colonial authorities, concerned at the rise of fascist Italy in the Mediterranean and Africa, suspended the government and the constitution on the pretext that government's measures to strengthen instruction of Italian in schools violated the Constitution.Template:Citation needed
The party openly sided with General Franco's Nationalist army in the Spanish Civil War.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This is still seen by the historical iconography that stayed on the party, including the proto-Fascist imagery of the party logo is a shield set against a black background (black being the heraldic colour chosen by Mussolini, as evidenced by his "Blackshirts"), the PN's official anthem, which is still sung during mass meetings, being similar to the official anthem of Mussolini's Fascist party, "La Giovinezza", and also the name of the party itself, which in itself includes the term nazionale for the first time, which was inspired by Italian nationalism.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Failed verification
World War II and the postwar period (1939–64)
The Nationalists received what could have been their coup de grâce during the War. Their association with Italy, the wartime enemy, antagonised them with the electorate, and their leader Enrico Mizzi (son of Fortunato) was first interned and then exiled to Uganda during the War along with other supporters of the Party.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Party did not even contest the 1945 elections for the Council of Government which for the first time raised the Labour Party from third-party status to that of a major party at the expense of the Constitutionals.Template:Citation needed
Notwithstanding, the Nationalist Party survived and in its first major electoral test, the legislative elections of 1947, it managed to stay ahead of various splinters that had formed from people who did not want to be associated with the main party. In the following 1950 elections, a very damaging split occurred in the ranks of the governing Labour Party resulting in two parties: the Malta Labour Party (MLP) and the Malta Workers' Party (MWP). This helped the Nationalists become the largest party in the Legislative Assembly and form a minority government which, though short-lived, re-established the Nationalist Party as a major political party. Enrico Mizzi was sworn in as Prime Minister, but died after three months in December.<ref name="auto"/>
Two subsequent elections were held in 1951 and 1953 where the Nationalists formed short-lived coalitions with the Malta Workers Party (which, over the years, eventually disintegrated). The Party lost the 1955 elections to Labour and the following years it led the campaign against the Labour Government's proposal for integration with Britain. Integration failed largely because Britain lost interest after the Suez fiasco and the constitution was again revoked in 1958 following massive disturbances over redundancies at the Malta Drydocks.<ref name="auto"/>
Post-independence (1964–2013)
A new constitution was enacted in 1961. The Nationalists, led by George Borg Olivier won the 1962 elections, fought largely over the issue of independence and having as a backdrop a second politico-religious crisis this time between the Church and the Labour Party. Independence was achieved in 1964 and the Party was returned to office in elections in 1966. It lost the 1971 elections by a narrow margin and lost again in 1976.<ref name="auto"/>
In the elections of 1981 the party, led by Eddie Fenech Adami achieved an absolute majority of votes for the first time since 1933 but it did not gain a parliamentary majority and so remained in the opposition.Template:Citation needed A crisis followed with the party MPs refusing to take their seats. Amendments to the constitution in 1987 meant that the party was voted into office that same year after 16 years in opposition.Template:Citation needed
In 1990 the government formally applied to join the European Community.Template:Citation needed A wide-ranging programme of liberalisation and public investments meant the return to office with a larger majority in 1992.Template:Citation needed However, the party was defeated in the 1996 elections.Template:Citation needed The stint in opposition would last only 22 months as the government soon lost its one-seat majority. The party won the 1998 elections convincingly, a feat that was repeated in 2003 following the conclusions of accession negotiations with the European Union in 2002.
The Nationalist Party proposed Malta's accession to the European Union, a question which was put forward in the 2003 Maltese European Union membership referendum.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Those in favour were 53% of eligible voters, a result that prompted the 2003 snap election in order to confirm the mandate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Malta joined the European Union in 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Nationalist Party won narrowly the general election of 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It lost the 2013 election and is currently in opposition.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Opposition period (since 2013)
After the most recent Nationalist government, led by Lawrence Gonzi, lost its majority in parliament in the final year of the legislature, the same government fell when the budget vote (also a vote of confidence) was defeated, thus meaning it was the first Nationalist government since Independence to fall from power.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
After approximately 23 years in government (With Labour's short 2-year stint between 1996 and 1998 being in between two stints of PN governance) the Nationalist Party took a major defeat in the Maltese general elections of 2013, losing several districts and resulting in a nine-seat deficit in parliament between it as the opposition and the elected Government. the win is considered to have been the biggest victory any party has had since Malta's Independence with the opposing Labour party taking 55% of the votes with a difference of 35,000 votes between the two parties.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Nationalist Party again suffered a loss in the European Parliament election of 2014 against the governing Labour Party by over 34,000 votes,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but managed to elect its third MEP for the first time since Malta's entrance in the EU, namely Roberta Metsola, David Casa and Therese Comodini Cachia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In the 2015 local council elections, the Nationalist Party increased its vote percentage from 41% in 2012 to 45%.Template:Citation needed
In the lead-up to the 2017 general election the Nationalist Party negotiated for a coalition with two never-elected third parties in Malta, all under the campaign Forza Nazzjonali: the newly formed centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and the green Democratic Alternative (AD). Under an agreement reached with PD leader and former Labour and Nationalist MP Marlene Farrugia, PD candidates contested the 2017 general election under the Nationalist banner with the added notation "tal-orange" (referring to the PD's party colour) and any elected PD members would participate in a future Nationalist-led government.<ref name="pd-pn coalition final">Template:Cite news</ref> Negotiations with the AD were unsuccessful due to the AD wanting all three parties to run candidates under a new name, Qawsalla ("Rainbow"), with unified policy platforms rather than simply as Nationalists with an added notation.<ref name="pn-ad coalition times 1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Party formed a coalition list called Forza Nazzjonali together with the Democratic Party. Nevertheless, this was not successful and the party, under Forza Nazzjonali, was defeated again in the 2017 snap election.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
After the election, Simon Busuttil resigned from the position of leader of the party alongside the deputy leaders of his administration.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A new election for the leadership role was decided in which for the first time, paid PN supporters can vote as well as the executive. The four candidates in the first round were Adrian Delia, Chris Said, Alex Perici Calascione and Frank Portelli. Alex Perici Calascione and Frank Portelli were the two candidates who did not pass through the first phase. In the second round Adrian Delia emerged as the winner of the leadership election, in which he gained 7,734 votes (52.7% of the vote), to Said's 6,932 votes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In Adrian Delia's first European election as party leader in 2019 the party took an even bigger defeat than before, with a 43,000-vote difference separating the two parties. this would lead to the party losing another seat while the Labour party gained another seat.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives of Malta Louis Galea has suggested that the party rebrand, possibly under the new name People's National Party (Template:Langx), in order to avoid association with other contemporary "nationalist" parties in Europe, which tend to be positioned on the far-right.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Roberta Metsola, a member of PN, was elected President of the European Parliament in January 2022 following the unexpected death of David Sassoli.
The Party would soon suffer its own internal crisis when Adrian Delia was voted out from his role as the leader of the party after the newsportal LovinMalta alleged that well informed sources told them that WhatsApp messages were sent between him and the alleged mastermind of Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder Yorgen Fenech.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This fact would soon be picked up by other MPs from the same party who would use it as a casus belli to vote Delia out of power. This would culminate with Bernard Grech emerging as a challenger to Adrian Delia, who would in turn be election as the new leader of the PN.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, it would soon emerge that the WhatsApp leaks were very much greatly exaggerated by another MP Jason Azzopardi, who after Delia challenged Azzopardi to publish the hundreds of messages that he claimed to have with Fenech, would backtrack on his claim of Delia being in Fenech's pockets and signed a joint declaration in which they both reconciled.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in addition, LovinMalta would soon be taken to court on libel by Adrian Delia over the article, in which LovinMalta would then issue another article claiming that they did not verify the allegation made by the third party with Delia but verified that the allegation had been made. They also expressed regret that the article may have been misunderstood as an allegation of wrongdoing on the part of Delia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As a result, Delia withdrew the libel case against them.
In the 2022 general election, the party was again rocked by the fact that 4 major PN politicians would not run, in addition one of these politicians Mario Galea would speak up against the part be saying that other politicians close to the PN leadership 'made my life hell' and “I was made a disposable commodity... People close to the leadership also called out my mental health,” <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Because of these many revelations regarding internal party politics, the PN suffered its third consecutive defeat in the 2022 general election. in addition, this defeat was the biggest percentage of vote difference between the two parties since the 1951 general election.<ref name="grech">Template:Cite web</ref>
On 10 June 2025, Bernard Grech announced his resignation as Leader of the Nationalist Party and Leader of the Opposition, effective as soon as his successor is elected following an internal leadership contest.<ref name="Zammit">Template:Cite news</ref> His resignation came two days after the news portal MaltaToday released the results of a survey placing voting intentions for the Partit Nazzjonalista at 39.7% to the Partit Laburista's 53.3%, with Grech's trust rating at a staggering 18.8% to Prime Minister Robert Abela's 50%.<ref name="Debono">Template:Cite news</ref> Following the resignation, the party held an election on 6 September 2025, in which Alex Borg defeated Adrian Delia by a 44-vote margin to become party leader.<ref name="Grech">Template:Cite news</ref>
Ideology
Malta's Nationalist Party emerged from the Anti-Reform Party founded by Fortunato Mizzi in 1883, opposing taxation policies decreed by the British authorities and measures to anglicise the educational and judiciary during the "Language Question" period.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The party supported human rights, so long as they were in line with Catholicism. In 2011 it was noted that its party platform was "far to the right of most other Christian Democratic parties, the Bavarian Christian Social Union in Germany included".<ref>Hans Slomp, Europe, A Political Profile, 2011, p.685</ref> In the following years, the party moved towards more centrist positions and became more progressive. The Nationalist Party opposed the introduction of divorce in Malta in 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, since then, it has changed to a position of support for it and for other liberal ideas.
The Nationalist Party was the first party to have an openly gay MP, Karl Gouder, and Trans Candidate Alex Mangion. The majority of its parliamentary group voted in favour of gay marriage in 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The party calls itself a mosaic of people and ideologies. The party recruited a non-binary member, Mark Josef Rapa, for their pro-LGBT group, FOIPN.
A clause in the party statute dating back to 1991 bans active or former Freemasons from taking active roles, including casting a democratic vote, within the parameters controlled by the party itself.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Organization
Leaders
- Fortunato Mizzi (1880–1905)
- Enrico "Nerik" Mizzi (1905–1926)
- Sir Ugo Pasquale Mifsud and Enrico Mizzi (1926–1942)
- Enrico Mizzi (1940–1950)
- Giorgio "Ġorġ" Borg Olivier (1950–1977)
- Eddie Fenech Adami (1977–2004)
- Lawrence Gonzi (2004–2013)
- Simon Busuttil (2013–2017)
- Adrian Delia (2017–2020)
- Bernard Grech (2020–2025)
- Alex Borg (2025 - Current)
Prime Ministers
- Sir Ugo Pasquale Mifsud (1924–1927, 1932–1933)
- Enrico Mizzi (1950)
- Giorgio "Ġorġ" Borg Olivier (1950–1955, 1962–1971)
- Eddie Fenech Adami (1987–1996, 1998–2004)
- Lawrence Gonzi (2004–2013)
Structure
The party structures are the General, Executive and Administrative Councils, the Parliamentary Group, the District Fora and Sectional Committees, the College of Local Councillors and a number of party branches.<ref name="const">Template:Cite web</ref>
Party officials include the Leader, two Deputy Leaders, Secretary-General, President of the Party's General Councils and Presidents for each of the Executive and Administrative Committees, Treasurer, International Secretary and Parliamentary Group Whip.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The General Council is made up of delegates and representatives from other party structures, the largest number being delegates elected by the Sectional Committees.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The General Council elects and approves the Party Leader and two Deputy Leaders, approves the electoral programme, approves the Secretary-General's report on the state of the party and amends the Party Statute.<ref name="const" /> The executive committee is made up of the party's most senior officials, representatives of the General Council, the Parliamentary Group, Sectional Committees and the Party branches.<ref name="const" /> The executive committee is the political and policy making body of the Party and, amongst other things, elects most of the party officials, approves candidates, drafts the electoral programme and lays out the broad policy guidelines. The Administrative Committee is made up of party officials, Presidents of all of the party's branches and deals with organisational and administrative issues.<ref name="const" />
The party is organised geographically in Sectional Committees which are then organised in District Fora with special provisions applying for Party organisation in Gozo.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Parliamentary Group and the College of Local Councillors bring together the party's elected representatives in parliament and local councils. The party's branches include an equal opportunities section, as well as youth, women's, seniors, workers, professionals, entrepreneurs, local councillors, candidates and former MPs sections.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Media holdings
Although not directly part of the party's structure, the PN owns the television station NET Television, the online news portal netnews.com.mt, Net FM radio station, and the In-Nazzjon and Il-Mument newspapers through its holding company Media.link Communications.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Party splits
The party had two splits:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Democratic Nationalist Party led by Lawyer Herbert Ganado, disestablished in 1966.
- Azzjoni Nazzjonali led by Joseph "Josie" Muscat, disestablished in 2010.
Election results
House of Representatives
European Parliament
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | Rank | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Lawrence Gonzi | 97,688 | 39.8 | Template:Composition bar | New | Template:Increase 2nd | EPP-ED |
| 2009 | 100,483 | 40.5 | Template:Composition bar | Template:Steady | Template:Steady 2nd | EPP | |
| 2014 | Simon Busuttil | 100,785 | 40.2 | Template:Composition bar | Template:Increase 1 | Template:Steady 2nd | |
| 2019 | Adrian Delia | 98,611 | 37.9 | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 1 | Template:Steady 2nd | |
| 2024 | Bernard Grech | 109,351 | 42.0 | Template:Composition bar | Template:Increase 1 | Template:Steady 2nd |
See also
- Media.link Communications, the communications holding company of the party
References
<references group="lower-alpha" /> Template:Reflist
External links
Template:Maltese political parties Template:European People's Party Template:Authority control
- Pages with broken file links
- Nationalist Party (Malta)
- 1880 establishments in Malta
- Catholic political parties
- Centre-right parties in Europe
- Centrist parties in Europe
- Christian democratic parties in Europe
- Conservative parties in Malta
- International Democracy Union member parties
- Maltese nationalism
- Member parties of the European People's Party
- Political parties established in 1880
- Political parties in Malta