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Volt Malta is a political party in Malta and the Maltese branch of Volt Europa, a Eurofederalist and Progressivism pan-European political party and movement, which advocates for greater European cooperation across Europe.
The political participated in its first General Election in 2022.
In addition, the party has set out to address a wide range of issues in Malta, such as corruption through the promotion of transparent governance and separation of powers, or environmental and climate protection, through an emphasis on a circular economy.
Health workers are to receive a salary supplement for work done during the pandemic.
Volt advocates for the legalisation of cannabis and called for a more progressive reform than before. The party proposes a limit of 25 grams for personal possession and use. Addiction should be treated as a medical problem, not a criminal one. To this end, instead of a cannabis authority as planned so far, an authority for recreational drugs should be established to enable studies and guidelines for different drugs and to better combat the black market. The party brought its proposals on this to the White Paper process to develop guidelines for dealing with drugs in Malta.
The minimum wage in Malta is to be increased to €1,100 by 2025, based on the European Commission's recommendations of 60% of the median wage in a country. To ensure the right to a living minimum wage, a Living Wage Unit is to be established within the National Statistics Office, responsible for the regular calculation of the living wage.
Parents should be entitled to 20 weeks of fully paid parental leave, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation and whether they choose adoption or surrogacy. In doing so, the party aims to advance gender equality and combat discrimination by employers. The party supports making femicide a separate criminal offence and including it in the Criminal Code.
The party wants sex work to be regulated. Volt proposes to impose prison sentences on illegal brothel operators and human traffickers and to create support services for people who are forced into prostitution. Sex worker should also be allowed to register and brothels should only be organised as cooperatives to prevent procuring. Sex workers should be over 21, clients must be at least 18 to be eligible for appropriate services, and unprotected sex should be banned, as well as regular STD testing becoming mandatory.
Volt distinguishes between three forms of euthanasia: passive euthanasia, assisted suicide and active euthanasia, the latter whereby the party rejects the last and proposes accompanying measures and counselling services.
As part of the party's efforts for more transparency in party finances, the group launched a campaign, #PolitikaOnesta, which provides users with a breakdown of party advertising spending over periods ranging from one day to 90 days. The party demands that all finances of a political party should be governed exclusively by the party financing law and not by a mixture of party financing law and corporate law.
Volt demands that the ONE and NET television channels, owned by the Partit Laburista and Partit Nazzjonalista parties, should no longer be regulated under company law, as they can be used to circumvent party funding rules and disguise donations. The party also criticises the broadcasters for receiving financial support during the Covid-19 pandemic, thus providing state funding to the parties behind them with taxpayers' money, which is not otherwise common in Malta.
A fixed term of office should be introduced for the parliament.
A non-governmental body is to conduct an audit and performance review of the entire public sector and publish the results. As a follow-up, a government digital dashboard of expenditure is to be developed.
Tourism is to be geared more towards quality and move away from a focus on short-term visitors. To this end, the party wants to open up North America as a new market and attract people of Maltese descent as a target group. This, along with a diaspora passport, is intended to attract foreign direct investment to Malta.
The party proposes the promotion of Vertical farming, agricultural technology and Robotics to diversify the economy and the research sector for sustainable economic growth. The economy on Gozo is to be made more independent, especially through the promotion of agricultural technology. To this end, the Party proposes the establishment of an Agritech Start-up Centre in Gozo.
High-priority economic sectors are to be promoted through targeted increases in scholarships. The party also proposes a bonus programme for completing financial literacy courses.
The transport sector is to be redesigned to reduce emissions. To this end, Pedestrian zone are to be promoted and town centres are to be made more pedestrian-friendly and barrier-free. Cycling is to be supported by structurally separated Cycle-path, concepts for bicycle sharing and the expansion of bicycle parking spaces. In addition, public transport should be promoted by setting up a 24/7 bus system and expanding night bus services. A one-ticket system is intended to promote the switch to public transport.
Urban and communal agriculture and horticulture should be promoted to reduce emissions.
On 1 March 2022, the party published its 54-page election manifesto, which placed an emphasis on the expansion and protection of legally enshrined human rights, particularly in the areas of social and financial affairs, education, health, transport and migration. Volt contested under the slogan "Ivvota Aħjar. Ivvota Volt" (Vote Better. Vote Volt).
In the run-up to the election, as part of the campaign #PolitikaOnesta (Honest Politics), Volt asked all candidates to sign a declaration not to give out favours for votes in the election. In addition to Volt's candidates, the candidates of the ADPD and independent candidate Arnold Cassola signed the declaration, but only 5 of the two major parties, Partit Laburista and Partit Nazzjonalista.
The party spent €61.40 on marketing during its election campaign. Additionally, DeBono and Mallia spent €279 and €180 respectively in their personal campaigns, which included a €180 registration fee per candidate.
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