In 2015, Malta’s politics were largely dominated by the Labour Party, which had been in power since 2013. The Labour Party was led by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and focused on a range of social and economic reforms, such as reducing taxes and increasing public spending. The party also sought to promote Malta’s reputation as a tourist destination, and to improve its relationship with the European Union. Other political parties included the Nationalist Party, which was led by Simon Busuttil, and the Democratic Alternative Party. See ehealthfacts for Malta in the year of 2005.
The 2015 election was held in June of that year and saw Muscat’s Labour Party win a landslide victory, with 55% of the vote. This gave them a majority in Parliament and ensured that they would remain in power for another five years. During this time, Muscat sought to implement further reforms to improve Malta’s economic standing while ensuring social justice for all citizens. He also worked towards improving relations with other countries in the region and strengthening ties with the European Union. In 2018, he resigned from office following allegations of corruption related to his wife’s offshore companies. His resignation triggered an early election which resulted in Robert Abela taking over as Prime Minister later that year.
Yearbook 2015
Malta. Altogether, about 800 migrants are believed to have died in April when several boats ended up at sea off the coast of Libya. When the rescue effort was blown off, 24 of the bodies found in the sea were taken to Malta where they were buried. More than 750,000 people had so far during the year moved across the Mediterranean to Europe. Nearly 3,500 people had drowned on the crossings, most of them between Africa and Italy.
In November, EU Permanent President Donald Tusk called EU Heads of State and Government as well as Heads of Government from North Africa to a summit in the capital of Malta, Valetta. The summit was about the refugee situation around the Mediterranean.
According to COUNTRYAAH, Valletta is the capital of Malta which is located in Southern Europe. Malta voted with little margin to allow hunters to continue the controversial spring hunt for quails and trip pigeons that pass the Mediterranean on the way from Africa. Spring hunting is prohibited in the rest of the EU, but Malta was exempted from the rules when it joined the EU 20 years ago.
- Also see AbbreviationFinder.org for Malta country abbreviations, including geography, history, economy and politics.