The 2024 European Parliament election was held in Malta on 8 June 2024 in tandem with local elections. It was the fifth election to the European Parliament, electing 6 of the 720 Members of the European Parliament. EU citizens aged 16 and over were entitled to vote, provided they registered to do so. While 6 different political parties announced their participation, only the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party won seats, as in the last election in which they won 4 and 2 seats respectively. In this election, they each won 3 seats, Labour losing 1 and the Nationalists gaining 1.

Outgoing standing of Maltese seats in the 2019-2024 EU Parliament +PartyEuropean PartyOutgoing delegationSeatsGroupLabour PartyIncumbent MEPs:PES4S&DAlfred SantJosianne CutajarAlex Agius SalibaCyrus Engerer Nationalist PartyIncumbent MEPs:EPP2EPPRoberta MetsolaDavid Casa

MEPs not standing for re-election Departing MEPPartyEP Group First elected Date announced Josianne Cutajar 2019 Cyrus Engerer 2020 Alfred Sant 2014

Electoral system MEPs are elected from a nationwide six-seat constituency by single transferable vote. Candidates who pass the Hagenbach-Bischoff quota in the first round are elected, and any surplus votes transferred to the remaining candidates, who will be elected if this enables them to pass the quota. The lowest ranked candidates are then eliminated one-by-one with their preferences transferred to other candidates, who are elected as they pass the quotient, until all six seats are filled.

Participating parties/candidates The below parties and/or independent candidates declared their participation in the upcoming European Parliament elections listed in order of candidate quantity. Times of Malta released a final list after nominations closed. A total number of 39 candidates contested this election, also a record 13 of such being independents. PartyEuropean PartyQuantityNamesElection ProgramLabour PartyPES9 Claudette Abela Baldacchino Alex Agius Saliba Clint Azzopardi Flores Daniel Attard Thomas Bajada Jesmond Bonello Steve Ellul Jesmond Marshall Marija Sara Vella GafàElection ProgramNationalist PartyEPP8 Roberta Metsola (incumbent-outgoing President of the EP) David Casa David Agius Peter Agius Miriana Calleja Testaferrata de Noto Norma Camilleri LouisAnne Pulis Lee Bugeja BartoloElection ProgramAD+PDEGP4 Sandra Gauci Mina Tolu Ralph Cassar Rachelle 'REA' DeguaraElection ProgramImperium Europa –2 Norman Lowell Terrence PortelliElection ProgramABBAECPM2 Ivan Grech Mintoff Tania Gauci FioriniN/AVolt MaltaVolt1 Matthias Iannis PortelliElection ProgramIndependent candidates ornon-registered partiesVarious or Non-inscrit13 Nazzareno Bonniċi ('tal-Ajkla') Arnold Cassola Edwin Vassallo James Ryder Simon Mercieca Alexander D'Agata Radu Gheorghi Stephen Florian Conrad Borg Manché Noel Apap Malcolm Bezzina George Grixti Adrian ZammitSome of these candidates released programmes in the form of points throughout their campaigning. The People's Party did not put forward any candidates.

Campaign

Labour Party The Labour Party launched its MEP election campaign at the closing of its General Council on 28 April 2024 at the party's headquarters in Ħamrun, where Prime Minister Robert Abela called on voters to unite behind the government. The party's European election manifesto was subsequently unveiled by Abela at a public activity in Siġgiewi. The document offered what MaltaToday described as a small-island perspective, focusing on Malta's dependence on the aviation and maritime sectors, and including a proposal for a "systematic evaluation of the impact on small member states and island state members" before any EU legislation is enacted. Analysts noted the manifesto conspicuously omitted themes central to the wider European Socialists' platform, including gender equality, the rule of law, and tax justice, and fell short of the S&D's stated position on the war in Ukraine and on Israel's conduct in Gaza. On 1 May 2024, Workers' Day, Abela addressed a mass meeting at St George's Square in Valletta, urging supporters to keep calm and avoid provocation amid the recent conclusion of the magisterial inquiry into the Vitals hospitals deal.

Nationalist Party The Nationalist Party opened its European election campaign on Workers' Day, 1 May 2024, at a gathering at Ġnien l-Għarusa tal-Mosta. Party leader Bernard Grech unveiled the campaign slogan Għalik (Maltese: "For You") and devoted much of his address to the recently concluded magisterial inquiry into the Vitals hospitals deal, accusing the Labour government of prioritising its own protection over the public. Grech called on voters to support all PN candidates, arguing the party had achieved much with two MEPs and could do more with three a reference to veteran MEP David Casa and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. Metsola also addressed the gathering, reaching out to voters who felt betrayed by Labour, urging them not to lose hope, and stressing that not all politicians were the same. Casa warned the government he would stand in its way if it attempted to undermine the judiciary. The live broadcast of the event on Net Television and the party's Facebook page was interrupted due to technical difficulties.

During the broader campaign, Labour sought to weaken the PN by portraying Metsola and the Nationalists as favouring increased defence spending and a potential EU army, a line of attack observers noted was complicated by Prime Minister Abela's own agreement within the European Council in March 2024 on new measures to strengthen EU defence.

AD+PD AD+PD took a contrasting approach to the two main parties on Workers' Day, 1 May 2024, choosing to hold a press conference and meeting with bus drivers at the Valletta bus terminal rather than a mass meeting. Chairperson Sandra Gauci and secretary-general Ralph Cassar attended alongside other party officials to mark the occasion and highlight workers' rights.

Imperium Europa Imperium Europa's campaign was led by party leader Norman Lowell, who had contested every MEP election since Malta's EU accession. According to an analysis published by LSE European Politics ahead of the election, Lowell was described as the "far-right leader of the Imperium Europa Party" and had received 8,238 first-count votes in the 2019 election, though the party had little electoral influence. Migration featured as a key area of interest for the party's campaign; LSE European Politics observed that in the 2024 cycle, concerns had shifted from irregular migration toward the presence of third-country nationals in Malta, and that political parties broadly had made little attempt to distinguish between irregular migrants, refugees, and third-country nationals. Lowell was marked as an absent invitee at several multi-party debates held during the campaign, including those of 22 March and 2 May 2024 (debates table).

ABBA ABBA started its campaign with two events organised in conjunction with the European Christian Political Movement party on 6 April 2024 in a Qawra hotel on 'Reclaiming the power for the member states'. Two pairs of individual speakers addressed the two consecutive events which revolved around 'Sovereignty and Healthcare' and 'Education and Foreign Policy'. Romanian MEP Cristian Terheș and party leader Ivan Grech Mintoff addressed the first meeting, with Valeriu Ghilețchi and lawyer and broadcaster Emmanuel 'Emmy' Bezzina addressed the second meeting.

Four days before the election, therefore 4 June, Ivan Grech Mintoff resigned his leadership and membership of ABBA party. This comes after an open rift between Grech Mintoff and party secretary general Simon Elmer appeared on Grech Mintoff's protest method, that of egging the floor in debates he attends. Nevertheless, Grech Mintoff appeared on the ballot as a member and leader of the party.

Volt Malta Volt's campaign began with the adoption of their joint European election programme November 2023 in Paris, which the party shares with all other parties from Volt Europa. On 1 February 2024, Volt announced its Vice President Matthias Iannis Portelli as its first (and only) candidate for the European elections.

Independents The thirteen independent candidates represented a notably diverse range of political orientations and campaign themes. The most prominent was Arnold Cassola, a former secretary-general of a European Parliament political group who had previously contested MEP elections in 2004 as the candidate of Alternattiva Demokratika. During the 2024 campaign, Cassola centred his platform on economic reform oriented towards young people, clean and efficient public transport as an alternative to car-centric road building, and good governance. His stated objective in Brussels, as reported by MaltaToday, was to make Malta's economic and urban development serve its citizens rather than reproduce what he described as a failing status quo.

Cassola emerged as the most electorally significant independent in the race, rising to third place among all candidates in pre-election polling conducted by Esprimi/Times of Malta, polling at approximately 5.7% of first-preference votes. MaltaToday noted that such a share would, if replicated on polling day, have recalled his 2004 performance when, also as a non-mainstream candidate, he had secured approximately 22,938 first-count votes and could have proved sufficient for election given the change to a six-seat constituency since then.

Conrad Borg Manché, the mayor of Gżira who had resigned from the Labour Party in October 2023 after opposing his party's position on a planned development affecting a public garden, also contested as an independent. Borg Manché stated his campaign would centre on education, family rights, and pressing issues at both a national and European level.

Edwin Vassallo, a former Nationalist Party parliamentary secretary who had served in Parliament from 1996 to 2022, announced his candidacy as an independent, contesting under the banner of Moviment Solidarjetà, the organisation he had established after leaving the PN. Vassallo stated he had decided to contest because values of life, family and freedom had "never been as threatened as they are today". At a press conference held in front of the Maltese Parliament in May 2024, Vassallo also called for the courts to be allowed to operate without interference, arguing that excessive pressure on the judiciary amounted to an abuse of it.

Allegations of voter fraud

Debates 2024 Maltese European Parliament Election debatesDateTimeOrganizers LabourNationalistIEAD+PDABBAVoltIndependentsRefs21 February13:00National Youth Council of MaltaNP Norma Camilleri LouisAnne PulisNP Ralph Cassar Mina ToluNNN13 March12:30National Youth Council of MaltaP Steve EllulP Peter AgiusNP Ralph CassarNNArnold Cassola22 March12:00JEF MaltaP Alex Agius Saliba Steve EllulP Peter Agius Norma CamilleriA Norman LowellP Sandra GauciP Ivan Grech MintoffP Matthias Iannis PortelliArnold Cassola3 April13:00National Youth Council of MaltaP Thomas BajadaP Lee Bugeja BartoloNP Sandra GauciNP Matthias Iannis PortelliArnold Cassola12 April9:05Malta Chamber of CommerceP Thomas BajadaP Norma CamilleriP Terrence PortelliNNNN9:55P Steve EllulP David AgiusNP Ralph Cassar24 April8:30P Peter AgiusNArnold Cassola2 May12:30MUDU Party Leaders Debate - University of MaltaP Daniel Attard Marija Sara Vella GafàP Peter Agius Miriana Calleja Testaferrata de NotoA Norman Lowell OR Terrence PortelliP Mina ToluP Ivan Grech Mintoff Arnold Cassola

James Ryder

Conrad Borg Manché10 May16:00National Youth Council of Malta MaltaDailyP Daniel Attard Steve Ellul

Thomas BajadaP Norma Camilleri

Lee Bugeja Bartolo

A

Peter AgiusP Terrence PortelliP Sandra Gauci

Mina Tolu

Ralph CassarP Ivan Grech Mintoff

A

Tania Gauci FioriniP Matthias Iannis Portelli Arnold Cassola James Ryder14 May17:00LovinMalta MaltaTodayP Steve EllulP Lee Bugeja BartoloNP