page_title: Joseph Muscat
section_title: First term as Prime Minister
hierarchical_section_title: Joseph Muscat / Politics / First term as Prime Minister
caption_attribution_description: English: Joseph Muscat addressing the crowd during a Partit Laburista Sunday event
context_page_description: Joseph Muscat, KUOM MP is a Maltese politician who served as Prime Minister of Malta from 2013 to 2020, and Leader of the Partit Laburista from June 2008 to January 2020. Muscat was re-elected as prime minister in the elections of 3 June 2017. Previously he was a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2008. He was Leader of the Opposition from October 2008 to March 2013. Muscat identifies as a progressive and liberal politician, with pro-business leanings, and has been associated with both economically liberal and socially liberal policies.
  Muscat succeeded Alfred Sant as party leader in 2008. He rebranded the Labour Party, which embraced an increasingly socially liberal and centrist position. The 2013 general election saw Muscat becoming Prime Minister in March 2013. His premiership was marked for pulling together a national consensus for economic growth, based on a restructured Maltese economy. His administration led to large-scale changes to welfare and civil liberties, including the legalisation of same-sex marriage in July 2017.
  Muscat presided over the rise of the Labour Party and its dominance in Maltese politics, and the relative decline of the Nationalist Party.
context_section_description: Muscat contested Malta's general elections for the first time in March 2013 and was elected on District 2 on the first count, with 13,968 votes and on District 4 again on the first count with 12,202 votes and 53% of the vote. On 11 March 2013 he was sworn in as Prime Minister of Malta. Following his election victory, Muscat was congratulated in a statement by the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, on behalf of the European Commission.
  In 2014, Muscat's government introduced the Malta Individual Investor Programme, for which it contracted Henley & Partners. Through such programmes, applicants acquire Maltese citizenship against investing a minimum of 1 million EUR in the country. The citizenship-by-investment programme soon became a boon to Malta's economy, generating up to €163.5 million in revenues in 2016, which the government used to finance deficit spending. Muscat repeatedly defended such passport sale scheme, also presenting and promoting it personally at global Henley & Partners events in Dubai and elsewhere. Malta became an attractive location for foreign direct investment in financial services, online gaming, information technology, maritime and aviation hubs and high value-added manufacturing clusters. His administration led to large-scale changes to welfare with the introduction of social benefit tapering policies, increases in minimum wages, and introduced private sector involvement in healthcare.
  After three years Muscat claimed that he had presided over Malta's economic turnaround, and – amongst others – was instrumental for the introduction and strengthening of civil liberties, improvements in the health and energy sector, and the elimination of out-of-stock medicines, the reduction in energy tariffs, the introduction of free-childcare centres, higher social benefits to parents and the youth employment guarantee. 
  Upon being elected to office, the Muscat administration found a worsening public deficit, a slowdown in the economy, the country's main utility provider on the verge of bankruptcy and a slowing economy in Gozo. The directional change resulted in economic growth of over 6%, the elimination of the public deficit and a decrease in the public debt burden. Poverty was reduced and pensions were increased for the first time in 25 years. Muscat insisted that these results were delivered by his government as a team. Among others, the Muscat administration's family friendly measures led to a 9% increase in female participation in the labour market, substantial savings to first-time home buyers, the value-added tax car registration refund, in-work benefits to low-income couples and single parents, stipends given to 900 students who repeated a year and the introduction of civil unions. Muscat admitted that his first administration had its challenges, namely the environment and good governance.
caption: Muscat at a Labour event in 2012
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