Malta’s Government System and Key Figures

I’ve written quite a bit about the Maltese government and how they try to attract foreign investors to the island through generous tax incentives. However, up until now, I haven't really gone into much detail beyond mentioning that the Prime Minister—around whom the government is formed—is Joseph Muscat. I want to change that today and take a closer look at the people behind the scenes and how Malta’s government actually works.

Malta: A Parliamentary Democracy

The system that governs Malta is known as a Parliamentary Democracy. In terms of basic principles, it is very similar to the German or British political systems. Representatives of the people and various parties are elected to the House of Representatives, and the party with the most votes provides the Prime Minister. The House of Representatives consists of at least 65 members, and elections are held every five years.

The Two Major Parties: Nationalists and Labour

There are two dominant parties in Malta: the Partit Nazzjonalista (the conservative Nationalist Party) and the Malta Labour Party (MLP), which replaced the Nationalist Party as the governing party in 2013. Generally speaking, smaller parties find it very difficult to gain a foothold here, as many Maltese people tend to tick the box for the same party almost out of tradition. This often leads to very tight election results. In 2008, for example, the Nationalist Party won by a margin of just 0.5 percent over the Labour Party. The situation was quite different in 2013, however, when the MLP won a surprising victory with a lead of more than 11 percent.

The Government and its 14 Ministries

As mentioned, Joseph Muscat is the governing Prime Minister. Technically, the President of Malta, George Abela, is the head of state—though his role is largely ceremonial, comparable to the Federal President in Germany. In addition, Muscat has a deputy named Louis Grech, as well as 14 ministries, though listing them all here would go beyond the scope of this article.

I do, however, want to mention the most important posts, particularly regarding the interests of our firm, Dr. Werner & Partners. First, there is the Minister for Finance, Edward Scicluna. Equally important is the Minister for the Economy, Christian Cardona. You can find a full list of all ministries and ministers on this official government website.