Political party in Malta
The Maltese Patriots Movement (Maltese: Moviment Patrijotti Maltin, MPM) is an inactive right-wing populist political party in Malta. It was formed in April 2016 as a political wing of the Maltese Patriotic Association.[1]
History
The MPM was founded on the 8 April 2016 and immediately announced its application to the Electoral Commission as a new political party under the Financing of Political Parties Act.[2][3] In the 2017 Maltese general election, the party failed to elect any candidate in parliament.[4] Shortly after the 2019 European Parliament election, the party became inactive, while its social media accounts went inactive later in 2020.
Positions
The Maltese Patriots Movement is oriented towards far-right politics.[5][6] It has expressed right-wing populist rhetoric by stating opposition to immigration and criticizing Islam.[5][7] It has called for European Union funds allocated to Malta for the purpose be instead allocated for the benefit of Maltese people and for Malta to no longer be a member of the Schengen Area.[8] It also opposes the Maltese government's endorsement of the non-binding Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.[9] It has also expressed ethnic nationalist,[10] and socially conservative stances.[11]
At an October 2016 protest led by the party against the possible opening of a Muslim prayer room in Buġibba, leader Henry Battistino called for a national registry of Muslims and compared Muslim immigrants to rabbits breeding excessively.[12] Stephen Florian, an MPM party official, also spoke at the protest and stated that any religion other than Roman Catholicism should only have one place of worship in the country.[13] Florian later caused controversy when he outed a counter-protester from the Buġibba protest as transgender.[14]
MPM is frequently hostile toward media and the Maltese establishment, with Battistino referring to the media as traitors that are trying to "force [integration] down everyone's throats".[12] The party's sister organisation, Għaqda Patrijotti Maltin, was the subject of a complaint from the Institute of Maltese Journalists for protesters obstructing reporters from doing their job.[15]
