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Thirteen people have served as Leader of the Opposition of Malta since the office was established in 1921. The post did not exist in the period between 1933 and 1947, nor between 1958 and 1962.
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Thirteen people have served as Leader of the Opposition of Malta since the office was established in 1921. The post did not exist in the period between 1933 and 1947, nor between 1958 and 1962.
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Political party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
| 1 |  | Gerald Strickland (1861–1940) | October 1921 | August 1927 | 5 years, 10 months | Constitutional Party |
| 2 |  | Ugo Pasquale Mifsud (1889–1942) | August 1927 | June 1932 | 4 years, 10 months | Nationalist Party |
| (1) | | Gerald Strickland (1861–1940) | June 1932 | November 1933 | 1 year, 5 months | Constitutional Party |
| Office Abolished (November 1933 – November 1947) | ||||||
| 3 |  | Enrico Mizzi (1885–1950) | November 1947 | September 1950 | 2 years, 10 months | Nationalist Party |
| 4 |  | Dom Mintoff (1916–2012) | September 1950 | March 1955 | 4 years, 6 months | Labour Party |
| 5 |  | Giorgio Borġ Olivier (1911–1980) | March 1955 | April 1958 | 3 years, 1 month | Nationalist Party |
| Office Abolished (April 1958 – March 1962) | ||||||
| (4) | | Dom Mintoff (1916–2012) | March 1962 | June 1971 | 9 years, 3 months | Labour Party |
| (5) | | Giorgio Borġ Olivier (1911–1980) | June 1971 | 1977 | 5–6 years | Nationalist Party |
| 6 |  | Eddie Fenech Adami (born 1934) | 1977 | 12 May 1987 | 9–10 years | Nationalist Party |
| 7 |  | Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici (1933–2022) | 12 May 1987 | 26 March 1992 | 4 years, 319 days | Labour Party |
| 8 |  | Alfred Sant (born 1948) | 26 March 1992 | 28 October 1996 | 4 years, 216 days | Labour Party |
| (6) | | Eddie Fenech Adami (born 1934) | 28 October 1996 | 6 September 1998 | 1 year, 313 days | Nationalist Party |
| (8) | | Alfred Sant (born 1948) | 6 September 1998 | 5 June 2008 | 9 years, 273 days | Labour Party |
| — | | Charles Mangion (born 1952) Acting | 5 June 2008 | 1 October 2008 | 118 days | Labour Party |
| 9 |  | Joseph Muscat (born 1974) | 1 October 2008 | 11 March 2013 | 4 years, 161 days | Labour Party |
| 10 |  | Lawrence Gonzi (born 1953) | 11 March 2013 | 13 May 2013 | 63 days | Nationalist Party |
| 11 |  | Simon Busuttil (born 1969) | 13 May 2013 | 4 October 2017 | 4 years, 144 days | Nationalist Party |
| 12 |  | Adrian Delia (born 1969) | 6 October 2017 | 7 October 2020 | 3 years, 1 day | Nationalist Party |
| 13 |  | Bernard Grech (born 1971) | 7 October 2020 [1] | Incumbent | 2 years, 245 days | Nationalist Party |
The politics of Malta takes place within a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Malta is the constitutional head of state. Executive Authority is vested in the President of Malta with the general direction and control of the Government of Malta remaining with the Prime Minister of Malta who is the head of government and the cabinet. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Malta which consists of the President of Malta and the unicameral House of Representatives of Malta with the Speaker presiding officer of the legislative body. Judicial power remains with the Chief Justice and the Judiciary of Malta. Since Independence, the party electoral system has been dominated by the Christian democratic Nationalist Party and the social democratic Labour Party.
The Nationalist Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Malta, along with the Labour Party.
Dominic Mintoff, was a Maltese Socialist politician, architect, and civil engineer who was leader of the Labour Party from 1949 to 1984, and was 8th Prime Minister of Malta from 1955 to 1958, when Malta was still a British colony, and again, following independence, from 1971 to 1984. His tenure as Prime Minister saw the creation of a comprehensive welfare state, nationalisation of large corporations, a substantial increase in the general standard of living and the establishment of the Maltese republic, but was later on marred by a stagnant economy, a rise in authoritarianism and outbreaks of political violence.
Edoardo "Eddie" Fenech Adami, is a Maltese politician and Nationalist politician who served as the prime minister of Malta from 1987 until 1996, and again from 1998 until 2004. Subsequently, he was the seventh president of Malta from 2004 to 2009. He led his party to win four general elections, in 1987, 1992, 1998 and 2003, as well as the majority of votes in 1981. Staunchly pro-European, Fenech Adami was fundamental for Malta's accession to the European Union.
The Labour Party, formerly known as the Malta Labour Party, is one of the two major political parties in Malta, along with the Nationalist Party. It sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum.
Lawrence Gonzi, is a Maltese politician, retired Nationalist politician and lawyer, who served for twenty-five years in various critical roles in Maltese politics. Gonzi was Prime Minister of Malta from 2004 to 2013, and leader of the Nationalist Party. He also served as speaker of the House from 1988 to 1996, and Minister of Social Policy from 1998 to 2004, as well as Deputy Prime Minister from 1999 to 2004. He served in practically all positions in Parliament, being also Leader of the House, an MP and Leader of the Opposition.
Giorgio Borg Olivier, was a Maltese statesman and leading politician. He twice served as Prime Minister of Malta as the Leader of the Nationalist Party. He was also Leader of the Opposition between 1955–1958, and again between 1971–1977.
Alfred Sant, is a Maltese politician and a novelist. He led the Labour Party from 1992 to 2008 and served as Prime Minister of Malta between 1996 and 1998 and as Leader of the Opposition from 1992 to 1996 and from 1998 to 2008. Sant is an established writer and playwright and has published several books.
Simon Busuttil is the Secretary General of the EPP Group in the European Parliament. Formerly, he was Leader of the Opposition. and Leader of the Nationalist Party in Malta and a Member of the European Parliament for Malta.
Joseph Muscat is a Maltese politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Malta from 2013 to 2020 and leader of the Labour Party from 2008 to 2020.
In Malta, The Leader of the Opposition is, by convention, the leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives that is not in government.
George Abela, is a Maltese politician who was the eighth president of Malta from April 2009 to April 2014.
Charles Mangion was a Maltese politician. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives of Malta from 1987 till 2017. He has served in the government as Minister of Justice and Local Government from 1996 to 1998. He was briefly Acting Leader of the Opposition in 2008.
The Constitutional Party was a pro-British political party in Malta. It had representatives in the Maltese Legislative Assembly and Council of Government between 1921 and 1945, and again between 1950 and 1953, forming a government between 1927 and 1930 with the support of the Labour Party. A splinter group, the Progressive Constitutionalist Party was represented in Parliament between 1962 and 1966. The party was very much centred on the figure of its long-time leader Lord Strickland, with party supporters colloquially known in Maltese as "Stricklandjani".
The Democratic Party was a centrist to centre-left political party in Malta. It was founded in 2016 after a split from the Labour Party. It elected Malta's first two third party MPs for the first time since the country's Independence. In August 2020 the party announced an agreement to merge with the green Democratic Alternative party to form a new party called AD+PD. The merger was conducted on 17 October 2020.
General elections were held in Malta on 26 March 2022 to elect all members of the House of Representatives.
Withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is the legal and political process whereby a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation withdraws from the North Atlantic Treaty, and thus the country in question ceases to be a member of NATO. The formal process is stated in article 13 of the Treaty. This says that any country that wants to leave must send the United States a "notice of denunciation", which the U.S. would then pass on to the other Allies. After a one-year waiting period, the country that wants to leave would be out.
Robert Abela is a Maltese lawyer and politician who has served as prime minister of Malta and leader of Labour Party since 2020. The son of former President George Abela, he was elected to Parliament in 2017. Abela was sworn in as prime minister following the resignation of Joseph Muscat on 13 January 2020.
Bernard Grech is a Maltese politician and lawyer who has been the leader of the Nationalist Party and the Leader of the Opposition since 2020.
AD+PD, also written as ADPD, is a green and progressive political party in Malta. The party was founded on 17 October 2020 by a merger of the two most prominent third parties in Malta, the green Democratic Alternative (AD) and the social liberal Democratic Party (PD).