At stake in this election:

• 65 seats in the House of Representatives

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Ugo MIFSUD BONNICI
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Dr. Alfred SANT
• Assembly: Malta has a unicameral House of Representatives with 65 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected to serve a 5-year term.
• In the House of Representatives 65 members are elected by proportional representation to serve 5-year terms.***

*** Additional seats are given to the party with the largest popular vote to ensure a legislative majority.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Nationalist Party (PN)
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this election: 35
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Malta Labor Party (MLP)
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this election: 30
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Social Justice Alliance (AD)
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Other
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: N/A

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 379,516 (July 1998)
• Registered Voters: 281,078 (1998)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 190,912 (1998)

·         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: 6 (following the 1998 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: 56,927 (est.)