At stake in this election:

• 69 seats in the House of Representatives (Il-Kamra Tad-Deputati)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President George ABELA
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Lawrence GONZI
• Assembly: Malta has a unicameral House of Representatives (Il-Kamra Tad-Deputati) with 69 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by parliament to serve a 5-year term.
• Prime Minister is appointed by the President to serve a 5-year term.
• In the House of Representatives (Il-Kamra Tad-Deputati) 69 members are elected through a single transferable vote (STV) proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.***

*** Additional seats are given to the party with the largest popular vote to ensure a legislative majority. After the last election, the Maltese House of Representatives had 69 seats.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Nationalist Party / Partit Nazzjonalista (PN)
  • Leader: Lawrence GONZI
  • Seats won in this election: 30
  • Seats won in last election: 35
• Party: Labour Party / Partit Laburista (PL)
  • Leader: Joseph MUSCAT
  • Seats won in this election: 39
  • Seats won in last election: 34
• Party: Democratic Alternative / Alternattiva Demokratika (AD)
  • Leader: Michael BRIGUGLIO
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: 0

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 423,374 (2013)
• Registered Voters: 333,072 (February 2013)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 212,705 (2013)

·         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: 10 (following the 2013 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: 63,506 (est.)