General elections were held in Malta on 12 December 1981.^[1]

Quick Facts All 65 seats in the House of Representatives, First party ...

1981 Maltese general election

← 1976 12 December 1981 1987 →
All 65 seats in the House of Representatives
First party Second party   Leader Dom Mintoff Eddie Fenech Adami Party Labour Nationalist Last election 51.53%, 34 seats 48.46%, 31 seats Seats won 34 31 Seat change Popular vote 109,990 114,132 Percentage 49.07% 50.92% Swing 2.46pp 2.46pp
Prime Minister before election Dom Mintoff Labour Elected Prime Minister Dom Mintoff Labour

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The opposition Nationalist Party, reinvigorated with a new leader Eddie Fenech Adami, looked set for a serious challenge to the Labour Party, which had been in power since 1971 under Prime Minister Dom Mintoff. However, the elections resulted in controversy because although the Nationalist Party received a majority of votes, the disproportionality of the single transferable vote allowed the Maltese Labour Party to win a majority of seats. Mintoff said he would not be ready to govern in such conditions and hinted that he would call for fresh elections within six months. However, he eventually accepted the President's invitation to form a government and continued in office. This provoked a constitutional crisis, with the Nationalist Party boycotting parliament. The aftermath of the political crisis continued throughout the 1980s, with an increase in political violence in the streets.^[1]

Following the elections changes were made to the voting system to prevent a recurrence of the same problem. Under the new system, if a repeat of the 1981 scenario occurred, the party supported by an overall majority of voters would be awarded a sufficient number of additional seats from a party list to give it a majority.^[1][2]

The elections were held using the single transferable vote system, with five-seat constituencies.