Malta

Monthly Event Reports GSOD Indices

The Republic of Malta exhibits high range performance in Representation and Rights and mid-range performance in Rule of Law and Participation. It is amongst the top 25 per cent of the world in terms of its performance in several aspects of all four categories of democracy in the Global State of Democracy framework. The archipelago has a service-based, advanced economy, with its competitive tax environment and multilingual population making the country highly attractive to foreign investment. It gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1964.

Since the emergence of the Maltese two-party system in the 1970s, the country has been characterized by high political polarization, broadly divided into a conservative and religious elite, on the one hand, and a nascent liberal and anti-clerical counter-elite on the other. The cleavage is reflected in the two main political parties (the Nationalist Party and the Malta Labour Party) and the strong partisan mentality, which has divided the Maltese population and created a corrosive political environment. This is also perpetuated by the government’s capacity to dominate the political arena due to the country’s size and the prevalence of clientelism. Additionally, Malta faces serious corruption challenges and is economically reliant on an ecosystem in which corruption can thrive, for instance through its passport sale scheme that has long been criticized by civil society. The 2017 assassination of the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia resulted in the 2019 political crisis, which included public demands for responses to government corruption and money laundering. The country is also struggling with its evolving and more diverse Maltese identity since joining the EU in 2004. The EU membership introduced a shift from a strong insular, traditional and national identity to a more regional, Mediterranean and European one. As Malta’s foreign-born population grows, migration policy that addresses both legal and illegal migration continues to be a political concern.

There have been various attempts to improve tools of governance such as constitutional reforms and reforms against corruption. To reinvigorate parliament, one important development is the discussion about shifting from a part-time to full-time parliament to spur legislative progress, in combination with additional reforms geared towards improving women’s parliamentary representation. In recent years, Malta has addressed deficiencies in tackling financial crime, as highlighted by the G7 initiative Financial Action Task Force and has managed to be removed from its grey list.

Malta has made steady progress on gender equality (from mid to high range) over the past decades. However, it still lags behind the European average, with gender disparities most pronounced in economic opportunities, wages, female representation in leadership, and health and reproductive autonomy. The latter is largely attributed to the strict abortion law. The gender corrective mechanism passed in 2021 and used during the 2022 elections has been criticized for putting party interests before women’s participation.

Looking ahead, it will be important to watch further reforms in the Maltese financial system. Press freedom is also important to watch, especially as the country starts implementing the recommendations resulting from the 2021 public inquiry. Malta also faces serious environmental policy challenges such as water scarcity and pollution. Participation will be critical, in order to ensure that those particularly affected are included in the formulation of effective responses to these challenges.

June 2023 | Reforms allow abortion in case mother’s life is at stake

Parliament voted to slightly ease the ban on abortion so that abortions can be performed in cases where the mother’s life is at stake. According to the bill, proposed by the ruling Labour Party, the decision to terminate a pregnancy is now possible with the sign-off of three doctors, except in the most urgent cases. The opposition supported the bill only after last minute changes which weakened the ambition from allowing abortion in cases of risks to the mother’s health to only cover cases of risks to life. Abortion rights campaigners have condemned the amendments as “unworkable,” which they say fall short of protecting women’s reproductive rights in practice, as performing an abortion in all other cases remains a criminal offense.

Healthcare Legislature

March 2023 | Case highlights impartiality in state broadcasting

Malta’s Broadcasting Authority (BA) has upheld an impartiality complaint filed against ONE, a media outlet owned by the ruling Labour party, in a significant case in the regulation of party-owned news stations. The Broadcasting Authority ruled against ONE’s decision not to report on ADPD – The Green Party’s press conference about a recent hospital privatisation scandal, and concluded that ONE had been “systematically failing to broadcast ADPD statements in the past months”. It is the first time that BA has found that a station owned by a political party committed a violation by not reporting another party’s perspective. ADPD – The Green Party called on BA to issue directives that would ensure improved media impartiality. The case follows a recent Constitutional Court ruling upholding a judge’s finding in July 2022 that the national broadcaster PBS had failed to treat the National Party impartially by hindering the impact of a political advertisement.

Constitutional Court Media

January 2023 | Parliament passes changes to the appointment of top anti-corruption official

Parliament passed a bill introducing an anti-deadlock mechanism for the appointment of the Standards Commissioner. The bill passed with 41 votes in favour and 35 against in its final reading. The Standards Commissioner is responsible for investigating ethical complaints against MPs. The bill amends a requirement in the Standards in Public Life Act for the appointment to be agreed in Parliament by a two-thirds majority vote. The amendment allows for appointment by a simple majority if two initial votes fail to reach a two-thirds majority. Parliament has not yet succeeded in appointing a replacement for George Hyzler, who left the seat vacant. The government’s proposed replacement, former Chief Justice Joseph Azzopardi, was blocked by the opposition. The leader of the Nationalist Party, Bernard Grech, has accused Prime Minister Robert Abela of amending the law to push through his candidate. The use of the anti-deadlock mechanism for the appointment of other high-level positions, including the Presidency and the Chief Justice, had been recommended by the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s rule of law body.

CoE Robert Abela