Malta : the 2024 European Parliament elections – another polarised campaign?

Abstract

Maltese voters will join the rest of Europe in electing their six representatives for the European Parliament on 8 June 2024. The election in Malta – the smallest member state of the European Union –will take place two years after the country’s 2022 national election, which reconfirmed the popularity of the Labour Party and its leader Robert Abela. The 2022 election exposed the uphill struggle the Nationalist Party and its leader Bernard Grech face in bridging the gap between the two parties after the haemorrhaging of votes the latter has experienced over recent years. In the upcoming European Parliament election, the Labour Party is widely expected to win a majority of votes. However, the real test will be whether the Labour Party can retain its four seats or whether the Nationalist Party will manage to reduce the gap to its rival and potentially win a third seat.