Partit Popolari

Vorlage:Infobox political party The Popular Party (Maltese: Partit Popolari, PP) is a right wing, populist and conservative partyVorlage:Dn in Malta.

History

The Popular Party was founded in 1895 as form of a movement for self-government. Following the formation of this Pro-Maltese Party a shift of power had taken place given that Gerald Strickland was Pro-British whilst the PN was Pro-Italian. Sigismondo Savona was elected as party leader on 2 June 1895 at a public meeting in Valletta. Canon Ignazio Panzavecchia also was present at the event declaring support for Savona’s leadership. Party members included Savona’s supporters with the likes of Giuseppe Bonavia, Cesare Darmanin and Giovanni Vassallo and young new faces that included Antonio Dalli and Andrea Pullicino.

The 1895 election was won by the PN and Panzavecchia was defeated by the PN’s Mgr. Alfredo Mfisud as an ecclesiastical representative. However, this election proved the PP to be a prominent political force since it challenged the PN’s power. Especially when Sigismondo Savona led the poll amongst common electors. The main reasons behind the Party’s rapid rise were due to Savona’s stance on taxation and his ultra-nationalist views with regards the Maltese language and Malta’s nationhood. In contrast with Fortunato Mizzi and the PN, Savona was able to identify with the Maltese speaking population who did not speak neither English nor Italian. In fact, Savona clashed with the Chamber of Advocates when in 1896 he proposed the Maltese language to be used in the law courts.

Leadership

The Financing of Political Parties Act, which came into effect on 1 January 2016, introduced the requirement for political parties to register themselves with the Electoral Commission to which the Popular Party finally registered in July 2020. In the first Annual General Meeting held on 4 August 2020, Paul Salomone was elected leader of the Party. Salomone would launch the Party later in November same year.