Government
New Cabinet
Robert Abela named 21 ministers and two parliamentary secretaries after Labour's fourth consecutive win.
Country desk · updated 25 Oct
Malta
The seat map is IPU Parline, Malta House of Representatives, election of 30 May 2026. It shows 79 seats: Labour Party 42, Nationalist Party 37. A majority of 79 is 40. Only two parties sit in the House. The Electoral Commission count gives ADPD 1.31 percent and Momentum 1.54 percent, with no seat. Vote shares are from the Electoral Commission count as TVM reported it. They are a share of votes cast, not a share of seats.
Key takeaways
- 1
Parliament. Labour Party holds the most seats: 42 of 79 (53%). A majority needs 40.
- 2
Headlines. The tone is brightening: 9% of the last 4 days' headlines read grim, 4% upbeat. Top topic: Politics (39%).
- 3
Government. Government barometer 47/100 (Mixed record). 0 of 2 moves on file read as smart, 0 as harmful.
Headline mood · 4 days
Line: mood · bars: stories
25 Oct · 4 stories · neutral0 upbeat · 4 neutral · 0 grim
What the headlines are about
- Politics 39%
- Other 39%
- Security 13%
- Economy 9%
A simple word-list estimate from the daily wire headlines. Not a judgement.
Who holds the seats · House of Representatives
79 seats · 40 for a majority (line)
Labour Party
42 seats · 53.2% · a majority alone
42 of 79 seats. IPU Parline lists 42 of 79 seats for the Labour Party, including seats added under Malta's gender and proportionality rules. The Electoral Commission count, as TVM reported it, gives Labour 158,444 votes, 51.77 percent. The MaltaToday survey of 13–24 May 2026 printed 50.6 percent.
Map · mood compared
Malta
Overall mood: 9% grim, 4% upbeat · today +0
What changed today
25 Oct
- 25 Oct: 4 stories (average 6); tone as usual.
New headlines
- Lassana Cisse Remembered In Painting At Gozo Basilica
As the murder trial of Lassana Cisse continues, St George’s Basilica in Victoria, Gozo, has shared a powerful message about racism, justice and compassion, alongside photographs of a painting commemorating the victim inside the church. Cisse, a 42-year-old father and worker from the Ivory Coast, was shot dead in Ħal Far on 6th April 2019 … Continued •
Lovin Malta · 24 Oct
- Maltese Artist Joseph Agius To Explore Humanity’s Darkest Realities In New Exhibition | Lovin Malta
From war and poverty to migration and injustice, Maltese ceramic artist Joseph Agius is preparing to confront some of society’s most uncomfortable realities through a powerful new exhibition. Titled Disillusioned, the exhibition will open on 30th October at ALA Gallery in Santa Venera, marking the inaugural exhibition at the artist’s private gallery. Curated by Melanie … Continued •
Lovin Malta · 24 Oct
- King Corrupto and the blame game
Joseph Muscat has inspected the wreckage and identified the problem. The blame? Other people. The prosecutors, principally. They missed a “slam dunk” against Yorgen Fenech, he tells Reuters’ Stephen Grey in a podcast. How reassuring to have Muscat available to explain where everyone else went wrong. He was the prime minister. Keith Schembri was his … Continued
The Shift News · 24 Oct
- €9 million splashed on government boards as wives also benefit irregularly
More than €9 million was spent remunerating members of government-appointed boards and committees in 2023, while some also received additional allowances and benefits outside the provisions of the applicable rules, including health insurance covering spouses or partners. The Auditor General’s October 2026 report reveals inconsistent payment practices across ministries, with extra benefits, incorr…
The Shift News · 24 Oct
Headlines and summaries come from the linked sources; the selection is automatic.
Go deeper
Parties, people, promises, money
79 seats, and Labour Party holds 42.
The seat map is IPU Parline, Malta House of Representatives, election of 30 May 2026. It shows 79 seats: Labour Party 42, Nationalist Party 37. A majority of 79 is 40. Only two parties sit in the House. The Electoral Commission count gives ADPD 1.31 percent and Momentum 1.54 percent, with no seat. Vote shares are from the Electoral Commission count as TVM reported it. They are a share of votes cast, not a share of seats.
A score on this desk is an editorial average of six work topics, times ten, with the method written on the row.
The room
House of Representatives
79 seats · 40 to govern alone · Labour Party 42
The deal
One party governs with 42 of 79 seats
40 seats would be a majority of 79. Labour holds 42 on the IPU list and governs alone. The Nationalist Party holds 37. No other party won a seat; ADPD and Momentum stayed under 2 percent each.
The mood
Election vs now
The left bar is the vote share. The right bar is seats divided by 79. They are different counts.
- Labour50.6%
- PN44.2%
The first point is the 2022 general election, Labour 55.1 and Nationalist 41.7 percent of first-preference votes, as the Electoral Commission publishes them (162,707 and 123,233 votes). The second point is the final MaltaToday survey, fieldwork 13–24 May 2026. The third point is the 2026 Electoral Commission count. Malta votes by single transferable vote, so first preferences decide most but not all seats.
The trend
From election night to now
Public pollster blend — not a forecast
The split
Seat share beside the vote share
The right bar is seats divided by 79. The left bar is the vote share. The electoral system means the two differ.
The mismatch
Seats they hold vs the poll
The seat bar is seats divided by 79. The other bar is the MaltaToday survey of 13–24 May 2026.
The rude gauge
Growth king or a fight with work
Who grows the pie, who picks a fight with work. Cabinet sits at 47 / 100. The number is an editorial reading, not an official index. Six topics are averaged and multiplied by ten: energy supply, hiring, keeping and investing money, building, hours in paid work, and paperwork. Ten means the public record makes that easier for work. Zero means it makes it harder. The band is a label for that average, not a court ruling.
Against the workMixed recordGrowth king
Full causal chains live on every promise
This week
The pulse
House
House opens
Carmelo Abela was appointed Speaker and Bernard Grech Deputy Speaker; Alex Borg was sworn in as Leader of the Opposition.
Politics 101
How this country actually works
What this chamber drawing is
79 seats. 40 to govern alone.
The seat map is IPU Parline, Malta House of Representatives, election of 30 May 2026. It shows 79 seats: Labour Party 42, Nationalist Party 37. A majority of 79 is 40. Only two parties sit in the House. The Electoral Commission count gives ADPD 1.31 percent and Momentum 1.54 percent, with no seat. Vote shares are from the Electoral Commission count as TVM reported it. They are a share of votes cast, not a share of seats.
Who holds the offices this desk names
Robert Abela, Prime Minister; Ian Borg, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health.
Office holders come from the Cabinet list the Office of the Prime Minister announced on 3 June 2026, as the Malta Independent printed it. Party leaders are named from the press reports linked on each bio.
How foreigners are seen
Openness in Malta
Published surveys only. Each figure shows its source and year.
Who's welcomed
Share of adults in Malta with a favourable opinion of each country Pew asked about.
No data
Pew's 2025 Global Attitudes survey did not poll in Malta, and no other survey of views of other countries is on this desk yet.
Openness score
Three separate measures, each in its own year. We do not blend them.
Gallup, 2016
MIPEX, 2024
What expats say
InterNations Expat Insider 2025: rank out of 46 destinations, 1 is best.
- Ease of settling in20 of 46
- Culture and welcome22 of 46
- Local friendliness20 of 46
- Finding friends18 of 46
In plain words
- Expats ranked Malta 20 of 46 for ease of settling in (2025); its best sub-score was finding friends at 18.
- No published survey here asks people about other countries, so who's welcomed shows no data.
Sources and method
Pew asks adults for their opinion of a country. That is a view of the country, not of its people or of any visitor. We never estimate a pair that was not asked.
InterNations ranks come from expats living in the country (46 destinations). Gallup's Migrant Acceptance Index runs from 0 to 9. MIPEX scores integration law and policy from 0 to 100.
What it means for you
What it means for you
Only figures with a source, a date, and a link. Anything not listed here is not on file.
Pay
PwC Malta's payroll update for 2026 gives €229.44 a week for whole-time employees aged 18 and over from 1 January 2026, citing Legal Notice 289 of 2025.
PwC Malta, payroll updates 2026 (Legal Notice 289 of 2025), 2026-01-01 Source
Taxes
The summary says supplies in Malta are typically taxed at the standard rate of 18 percent, with reduced rates of 12, 7 and 5 percent.
PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Malta, other taxes, 2026-09-30 Source
Income tax
For 2026 the single rates tax income up to €12,000 at 0 percent and income of €60,001 and over at 35 percent. New parent bands with higher tax-free amounts start in 2026.
PwC Malta, payroll updates 2026, income tax rates, 2026-01-01 Source
Sources, licences and image credits
Data
- Wire (public RSS feeds): Lovin Malta, The Shift News.
- The left bar is the vote share. The right bar is seats divided by 79. They are different counts.
- Editorial economic-competence gauge, not a court and not a Nobel. Six axes: energy, hiring, capital, building, hours in work, red tape. Scores are a judgement from public records of this term and the last — not a bribery charge, not a voting recommendation.
Survey sources
- Malta — Gallup Migrant Acceptance Index 2016: Gallup. Neli Esipova, John Fleming and Julie Ray, “New Index Shows Least-, Most-Accepting Countries for Migrants”, Gallup, 23 August 2017. The full-country table lists Malta at 4.95. The survey-methods note says the index was asked in 138 countries in 2016, so the year used here is 2016. Source. Gallup allows a contextual citation when the publication date and a link are given. The table and graphics are not reproduced.
- Malta — MIPEX overall score 2024: MIPEX. Migrant Integration Policy Index, Malta country page. The block headed 2024 prints “MIPEX Score (with Health): 48”. Source. The overall score is cited from the country page. The report is not reproduced.
Image credits
Questions the desk actually answers
FAQ
Questions the desk actually answers
- Is the Malta desk live on Nation Runner?
- Yes. It draws IPU Parline, Malta House of Representatives, election of 30 May 2026, the Electoral Commission count as TVM reported it, and the Cabinet list the Office of the Prime Minister announced on 3 June 2026, as the Malta Independent printed it. It is an editorial dashboard, not an official record.
- Which culture figures does the Malta desk show?
- Gallup’s Migrant Acceptance Index for Malta in 2016 (4.95 out of 9) and the Migrant Integration Policy Index score of 48, with 2024 printed beside that score. No Pew row for Malta is on the perceptions page, so none is added here.
- Does the money tab score political donations in Malta?
- No. Zeros mean the access scale is not filled. A zero is not a finding that a party has no donors.
How we source this
Seats: IPU Parline, Malta House of Representatives, election of 30 May 2026. Votes: the Electoral Commission count as TVM reported it. Ballot support: MaltaToday survey, 13–24 May 2026; General election 2026. Offices: the Cabinet list the Office of the Prime Minister announced on 3 June 2026, as the Malta Independent printed it. Culture: Gallup 2016 and the Migrant Integration Policy Index block headed 2024.