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IN PICTURES | Parliament opens with grey suits and colourful dresses
Today marks the official start of the 15th legislature since independence, as parliament opens in Valletta. MPs, wearing colorful dresses and grey suits, are sworn in, with Carmelo Abela becoming the Speaker and Bernard Grech serving as the deputy Speaker
20 June 2026, 3:26pm
Juliana Zammit
Juliana Zammit
1 min read
The new House of the 15 Parliament is made up of 42 Labour seats and 37 Nationalist seats, after Labour won a fourth consecutive general election under Robert Abela (Photo: DOI)
Malta's 15th legislature since independence opened in Valletta on Saturday, with the 79 newly elected MPs sworn in.
Carmelo Abela was elected Speaker of the House after being nominated by Prime Minister Robert Abela and approved by both sides of Parliament.
Carmelo Abela was elected Speaker of the House (Photo: MaltaToday / James Bianchi)
The new House is made up of 42 Labour seats and 37 Nationalist seats, after Labour won a fourth consecutive general election under Robert Abela.
Prime Minister Robert Abela along with his wife Lydia Abela (Photo: MaltaToday / James Bianchi)
Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg (Photo: James Bianchi / MaltaToday)
It includes a record 27 women, 12 of whom entered through the gender corrective mechanism, which adds seats when the under-represented gender makes up less than 40% of elected MPs.
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The parliament now includes a record 27 women, 12 of whom entered through the gender corrective mechanism (Photo: James Bianchi / MaltaToday)
Alex Borg leads the Opposition as Nationalist Party leader, a post he has held since September 2025
Alex Borg leads the Opposition as Nationalist Party leader, a post he has held since September 2025 (Photo: James Bianchi / MaltaToday)
The new House is made up of 37 Nationalist seat (Photo: James Bianchi / MaltaToday)
Shortly after the election of the Speaker, the election for Deputy Speaker took place, where Nationalist Party MP Bernard Grech was nominated for the role.
Nationalist MP Bernard Grech (Photo: James Bianchi / MaltaToday)
Juliana Zammit is a part-time staff reporter and social media journalist.
She is current...