Labour Party (Malta)

The Malta Labour Party (MLP, Maltese: Partit Laburista) is one of two major contemporary political parties in Malta, along with the Nationalist Party. It is currently the main party of opposition in Malta, and at the 2008 general election obtained thirty-four of the sixty-nine seats in the Maltese House of Representatives, with a 48.79% share of the vote.

History

The Malta Labour Party was founded in 1949. Dr Paul Boffa, then Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party (founded in 1920 and in government since 1947), left the party because of serious disagreements with his Deputy Dom Mintoff, and a series of cabinet crises. Boffa formed the Malta Workers Party (MWP) while Mintoff re-organized the Labour Party as the modern Malta Labour Party.

The MLP contested its first elections for the Malta Legislative Assembly the following year. The old Labour vote was split equally between the MLP and the MWP, giving them eleven members each. This allowed the Nationalist Party (PN) to have a slight edge in the formation of a government, which it did in coalition with the MWP. The government did not last long. Two other elections were held in 1951 and 1953 (the last time a coalition governed in Malta) which both saw short-lived PN-MWP coalitions and the decline in the share of votes to the MWP with increasing support for the MLP.

The MWP eventually disintegrated and the MLP formed a government for the first time in 1955. This legislature was dominated by the issue of integration with the United Kingdom. The party, which started its life as an anti-colonial party with the slogan "Integration or self-determination" was now inclined towards the first part of the formula. A referendum was held in 1958 but given the number of abstensions and massive opposition by the Nationalist Party and the Catholic Church, the result was inconclusive. This, together with a number of dismissals at the naval dockyard led to Mintoff's resignation and his call for massive protests in April 1958.

The Governor re-established direct colonial government which lasted until 1962. In the meantime, the MLP's connections with Third World Independentist and Socialist movements, set it on a collision course with the Maltese Catholic Church, which the Party perceived as pro-British and the cause of failure of the Integration project. This led to the party leadership being interdicted from 1958 to 1964, when reading, advertising and distributing Party newspapers was deemed a mortal sin. In the 1962 elections this led to the defeat of the Party at the polls as well as a split with the creation of the Christian Workers' Party. Peace with the Church would not be made until 1969 by which time the Christian Workers' Party had disintegrated.

The Malta Labour Party participated in independence talks but disagreed with what was offered, causing them to not participate in the Independence celebrations when independence was actually achieved in 1964. The party made strong gains in the 1966 elections which, however, were not enough to see it in office.

An unimportant split occurred in 1969 when the Communist Party of Malta was founded. This split happened as a result of the truce between the Malta Labour Party and local Catholic authorities. The Communist Party has since only contested the 1987 elections.

The Malta Labour Party won the 1971 general election and immediately set out to re-negotiate the post-Independence military and financial agreements with the United Kingdom. The party also undertook massive nationalization programmes whilst setting up various State owned companies and investments and expansion of the welfare state introducing several benefits to workers and families and further introducing acts of parliament aimed at employee rights and trade union rights. Malta became a republic in 1974. The MLP won the 1976 elections. Amongst other things, homosexual relationships and adultery were decriminalised and the Government managed to secularise the State introducing civil marriages and modernising Maltese civil law. A law that gave males and females a right to the same wage for the same work done was also enacted amongst employment laws enacted at the time.

In 1981 the Party managed to hold on to a parliamentary majority even though the opposition Nationalist Party managed an absolute majority of ballots. A serious political crisis ensued when Nationalists MPs refused to take their seats for the first years of the legislature. Premier Mintoff called this result a "perverse" one. He had proposed that fresh elections had to be held, but members of his Parliamentary group rejected this proposal. Mintoff resigned as Prime Minister and Party leader in 1984 (although he retained his parliamentary seat) making way for his appointee Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici.

The party agreed to constitutional amendments in 1987, which guaranteed that the party with a majority of vote was given a majority of seats. Thanks to the amendment the Nationalists returned to Government after 16 years.

Labour Party Club, Republic Street, Valletta, 1985

The MLP performed badly in 1992 and Mifsud Bonnici resigned. He was succeeded by Dr Alfred Sant who modernized the party and secured a victory at the polls in 1996.

However, trouble was brewing. Mr Mintoff started creating problems in Parliament where the government had only a single seat majority. Things came to a head in summer of 1998 when the government lost a vote on the lease of the Cottonera waterfront. Sant called early elections and was defeated. Back in opposition, the party campaigned unsuccessfully against EU membership, losing again in 2003. Sant resigned but stood again for election of Leadership of the Party where he was voted again as leader with more than 65% of the vote.

The Malta Labour Party lost for the third consecutive time in the 2008 general elections. Following the loss of the election, Sant resigned as MLP leader on 10th March 2008. A new leader will be elected on 16 March, 2008. Several members are, according to the press, being considered: Evarist Bartolo, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, Michael Falzon, Anġlu Farrugia, Charles Mangion, Joseph Muscat, and Karmenu Vella. The decision for the new leader is going to br held before the end of April of this year.

Media

The Party owns a television station that broadcasts at a national level, One Television, and a radio station that also broadcasts on a national scale, One Radio. The Party also issues weekday newspaper L-Orizzont and Sunday weekly KullĦadd.

Past and Current Leaders

• Leaders since 1949
  • 1949-1984 Perit Dom Mintoff (Prime Minister: 1955-1958, 1971-1984)
  • 1984-1992 Dr Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici (Prime Minister: 1984-1987)
  • 1992-2008 Dr Alfred Sant (Prime Minister: 1996-1998)
  • 2008- (Incumbent)

See also

• Paul Boffa
• Alfred Sant
• Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici
• Black Monday
• Interdict (Roman Catholic Church)

External links

• Malta Labour Party
• Super 1 Radio and TV
• Maltastar.com Online Newspaper
• It-Torca
• L-Orizzont
• KullHadd
• Labour Youth Forum