Party politics and social legislation in Malta, 1921-1933

Abstract

This study will, at first, examine the inter-war period and the period preceding it from a socio-economic standpoint, while also providing the foundational information needed to establish the present members of parliament at the time of enactment of legislation. The socio-economic examination will take the form of a cross-check between the speech presented by Governor Plumer on the inauguration of Parliament on 1st November, 1921 regarding the main challenges which were to be faced by the Members of Parliament, with a snapshot of Malta during the early years of the 20th century, and the real challenges faced at the social level. It will then move on to present vignettes of debates which occurred in the Legislative Assembly and the Senate regarding socio-economic legislation, in an effort to identify the main strategic methods and objectives which the various political parties employed when passing legislation.