At stake in this election:

• 65 seats in the House of Representatives

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Eddie FENECH ADAMI
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Lawrence GONZI
• Assembly: Malta has a unicameral House of Representatives with 65 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected to serve a 5-year term.
• In the House of Representatives 65 members are elected by proportional representation to serve 5-year terms.***

*** Additional seats are given to the party with the largest popular vote to ensure a legislative majority.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Nationalist Party (PN)
  • Leader: Lawrence GONZI
  • Seats won in this election: 35
  • Seats won in last election: 34
• Party: Malta Labor Party (MLP)
  • Leader: Alfred SANT
  • Seats won in this election: 34
  • Seats won in last election: 31
• Party: Green Party / Alternattiva Demokratika (AD)
  • Leader: Harry VASSALLO
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Azzjoni Nazzjonali****
  • Leader: Josie MUSCAT
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: 0

**** Anglu XUEREB is joint party leader. This is the first election Azzjoni Nazzjonali will contest.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 409,379 (2008)
• Registered Voters: 315,357 (March 2008)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 206,432 (2008)

·         Is Malta a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Malta ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (8 March 1991)

·         Gender Quota: No, but some political parties have adopted gender quotas

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 6 (following the 2008 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 37 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Malta a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Malta ratified CRPD: Yes (10 October 2012)

·         Population with a disability: 61,406 (est.)