page_title: Nationalist Party (Malta)
section_title: Post independence (1964–2013)
hierarchical_section_title: Nationalist Party (Malta) / History / Post independence (1964–2013)
caption_attribution_description: English: Strait street, Valletta, 1980 - from a box of slides captioned "Verstraeten Family in Malta in 1980" found at a flea market in Brussels Vossenplein in 2020
context_page_description: The Nationalist Party is a Christian-democratic, conservative political party in Malta. It is one of two major contemporary political parties in Malta, along with the governing Labour Party. The Nationalist Party is currently in opposition to the Labour Party.
context_section_description: A new constitution was enacted in 1961. The Nationalists, led by George Borg Olivier won the 1962 elections, fought largely over the issue of independence and having as a backdrop a second politico-religious crisis this time between the Church and the Labour Party. Independence was achieved in 1964 and the Party was returned to office in elections in 1966. It lost the 1971 elections by a narrow margin and lost again in 1976.
  In the elections of 1981 the party, led by Eddie Fenech Adami achieved an absolute majority of votes for the first time since 1933 but it did not gain a parliamentary majority and so remained in the opposition. A crisis followed with the party MPs refusing to take their seats. Amendments to the constitution in 1987 meant that the party was voted into office that same year after 21 years in opposition.
  In 1990 the government formally applied to join the European Community. A wide-ranging programme of liberalisation and public investments meant the return to office with a larger majority in 1992. However, the party was defeated in the 1996 elections. The stint in opposition would last only 22 months as the government soon lost its one-seat majority. The party won the 1998 elections convincingly, a feat that was repeated in 2003 following the conclusions of accession negotiations with the European Union in 2002.
  The Nationalist Party proposed Malta's accession to the European Union, a question which was put forward in the 2003 Maltese European Union membership referendum. Those in favour were 53% of eligible voters, a result that prompted the 2003 snap election in order to confirm the mandate. Malta joined the European Union in 2004.
  The Nationalist Party won narrowly the general election of 2008. It lost the 2013 election and is currently in opposition.
caption: "Vote PN" graffiti in Strait street, Valletta, 1980
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