Since 1992 the Government has granted temporary refugee status to over 1,000 persons pending their relocation abroad. Iraqis represent the majority of the approximately 500 first asylum refugees still in Malta. However, the Government did not grant permanent refugee status or accept anyone for resettlement. The Government expels or repatriates persons it deems to be economic refugees. The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government Citizens exercise this right in multiparty, secret-ballot elections held every 5 years on the basis of universal suffrage for those 18 years of age or over.
Women are underrepresented in government and politics.
However, as a result of the 1996 general elections, the number of women elected to Parliament rose from two to four, and the first woman was appointed to be speaker of Parliament. In the September 1998 general elections four women also were elected to Parliament, and for only the second time in the nation's history, a woman was appointed to a ministerial post. The Parliamentary Secretariat for Women's Rights within the Office of the Prime Minister was abolished by the new Nationalist Party. Women's issues are now covered by a Department of Women's Rights, under the Minister of Social Policy. The Social Policy Minister is a prominent member of the Government and is the Secretary General of the Nationalist Party.