Third parties in Maltese politics have not seen much electoral success over the years.

The only two recent third party candidates who had been elected to Parliament were Marlene and Godfrey Farrugia in 2017, after they had formed the Partit Demokratiku, and formed a coalition with the PN in that election.

ADPD has been the longest established third party, and in recent years has seem some success in local council elections, but the only MP it had in Parliament was in 1989. Its first leader, Wenzu Mintoff, had been elected on the PL ticket in 1987 but left to join the newly-formed Alternattiva Demokratika, which later became ADPD.

Today, there is a significant percentage of the electorate who did not vote in the MEP elections. Of the 370,184 registered voters, 270,142 cast their vote last year. That leaves 100,000 who did not vote in that election for either of the two major parties, nor for third parties or independent candidates. In 2019, the number of those who did not vote was similar, but it is worth noting that last year the number of people who voted for third parties or independent candidates was over 12,000 more.

A recent survey by MaltaToday following the Budget presentation last year showed that "the PN enjoys the support of 46.3% of the electorate against Labour's 45.3%, a one-point lead over the PL on a projected turnout of 70.6%. The survey also shows that a significant 8% of voters are opting for third parties, split equally between ADPD and other political formations." The newspaper reported this in November.

It is of course very early to predict turnout numbers for the general election, but it is still worth noting that if an election were held last November only 70.6% would vote, meaning that just under 30% have not made up their minds.

Recently, two new political parties have come to the fore. One of them called Momentum has Arnold Cassola at the helm, a well-known politician in Malta who at one point led AD before later contesting as an independent candidate. Cassola has been very vocal on rule of law issues over the years and is himself well-known for trying to hold politicians to account by filing requests for investigations by the Standards Commissioner.

Another party that recently formed is the Malta Progressive Party. The Times of Malta had reported that former MEP Cyrus Engerer is among the group of officials forming the party. If he becomes involved in the leadership of the party it would mean that the party would have some political weight behind it.

The policies of both these parties still need to really be explained to the electorate.

The Labour Party and the Nationalist Party are of course the big fish, so to speak. They have strong backing from the electorate, in addition to having far superior resources. The Nationalist Party made headway in reducing the gap to the Labour Party in the MEP and local council elections. The next election is expected in 2027, which is a long way off and so much can change. The two parties will undoubtedly attract more of the undecided as time goes on.

It remains to be seen what kind of impact, if any, established third parties, or new ones, will have on the next election.  It is very hard for third parties to get a candidate elected in a national election as they would need to get more votes than the quota in a single district. Realistically speaking, this would be considered an extraordinary feat when considering Malta's recent electoral history, but that does not mean it is impossible.

However third parties can, and do, shake things up regardless of being in Parliament or not. For example they hold politicians to account through filing reports for investigation, highlight issues they believe should be debated, or fight for causes like protection of the environment.