It was only fourteen years after this episode that the Maltese nation was given the opportunity to elect chosen members on this Council. These elected members used to represent a minority of members on the Council and reflected only a minority of the people, as only 3,767 persons were entitled to vote.
The first general elections took place 165 years ago.
These elections were of a personal nature, with the candidates being elected in their own name.
It was in the Council of Government elections of 1880 when candidates organized themselves under the umbrella of a party with the formation of the Anti-Reformist Party (today called the Nationalist Party) led by Fortunato Mizzi.
Two years after the uprisings of Sette Giugno in 1919, our Country was granted a Constitution which gave more power to the Maltese through the establishment of a Legislative Assembly. This Assembly had the power to enact laws in certain particular areas.
During those elections the political parties were protagonists. Here, we saw the formation of the Labour Party, the Constitutional Party and the Nationalist Democratic Party, which was a branch of the Anti-Reformist Party which by that time started to be known as the Unione Politica Maltese.
The Constitutional development of our country was a hard-sought and difficult one. During this process the Maltese nation became sovereign and master of its own future; and it exercised its sovereignty by becoming a Member of the European Union.
In all this, the political parties were essential in the way they got the message through. They mobilised the people and have turned democracy into something positive, which the people feel it in their blood and veins.
The milestones and the goals reached by our country are the result first and foremost of the decisions taken by the Maltese and Gozitans, the result of the good judgment of our political leaders and the result of the democratic work of our political parties.
Furthermore our political parties are the incubators that produce policies that at the end of the dayaffect citizens in their daily life. It is fundamental that mechanisms which ascertain that the policies are made in the best interest of the country and of its people are in place.
In the year 2014 in which the Maltese population celebrated 50 years from Independence Day, 40 years from Republic Day, 35 years from Freedom Day, and 10 years from when Malta became Member of the European Union, the Government is proposed and passed a law which regulates the functioning of the political parties in our country.