Article 51: Establishment of Parliament

Chapter VI - Parliament
1
There shall be a Parliament of Malta which shall consist of the President and a House of Representatives.
2
The House of Representatives shall consist of such number of members, being an odd number and divisible by the number of electoral divisions, as Parliament may from time to time by law determine. Such members shall be elected in the manner provided by or under any law for the time being in force in Malta in equal proportions from the electoral divisions referred to in article 61 of this Constitution, each division returning such number of members, being not less than five and not more than seven as Parliament shall from time to time by law determine; and such members shall be known as "Members of Parliament".
Provided that where -
i
at any general election, a political party (hereinafter referred to as "the first party") obtains in the aggregate more than fifty per centum of all the valid votes cast at the poll, as counted at the first count of all the votes; or
ii
at a general election which is contested by more than two political parties and in which only candidates of two political parties are elected, one party (hereinafter referred to as "the first party") obtains a percentage of all the valid votes cast at the poll, as counted at the first count of all the votes, which exceeds that obtained by the other party (hereinafter referred to as "the second party");
and the proportion which the number of candidates elected from the first party bears to the total number of elected candidates is lower than the proportion which the number of votes cast at the first count for the first party bears to the total number of votes counted at the first count for all the parties contesting the election, then the number of members of the first party shall be increased by a number of additional seats (to be referred to as "additional seats") necessary to make the proportion which the number of candidates elected from the first party bears to the total number of elected candidates as nearly as possible equal the proportion which the number of votes cast at the first count for the first party bears to the total number of votes counted at the first count for all the parties contesting that election:
Provided further that when the number of candidates elected from all parties at the general election is even, and the first party elects one half of the total number of candidates elected at the general election, the first proviso to this sub-article shall not apply. Where the number of votes cast for each of two or more parties, not being the party which obtained the highest number of votes as aforesaid, is the same, the choice of the party for the purpose of this sub-article shall be determined by lot.

Amendment History

2007-09-28 - Amendment to provisions on composition of Parliament

Legal Reference: Act XXI of 2007

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Notes

This article establishes the Parliament of Malta, consisting of the President and a House of Representatives, and defines the basic principles for determining the number of members.