PN's 2026 manifesto at a glance: What is the party proposing?

The Nationalist Party unveiled its electoral manifesto for the 2026 general election on Monday, making its full list of pledges public during a general council meeting led by Alex Borg.

Featuring around 1,000 proposals across 16 sectors, the manifesto highlights several of the party's key benefits already announced, such as an interest-free deposit scheme and reimbursement of half the loan interest for 10 years.

The new proposals include a promise for more open spaces, gardens, and parks in every village, and a reform of vehicle licences to charge according to vehicle usage. 

It is also promising to introduce statutory limits on noise pollution and masterplans for every locality, updated every 10 years. 

The party promised to build several new hospitals, an offshore fuel hub and the first line of a mass transit system within its first five years of government. 

It is also promising to review all local plans for Malta and Gozo to ensure development is tied to the actual capacity of localities. The party is also pledging to introduce a rule requiring any rezoning of Outside Development Zone land to be approved by a two-thirds majority in parliament. 

The PN has also introduced an AI chatbot which it says can answer questions about the manifesto.

This is a concise list of the key proposals:

1. Economy

• Build new economic pillars around AI, data and New Space.
• Introduce a Space Activities Act.
• Create a dedicated New Space unit within Malta Enterprise.
• Develop an offshore fuel hub at Hurd's Bank.
• Remove the LNG tanker from Marsaxlokk.
• Five years of tax-free income for Maltese specialist doctors who return to work in Malta.
• e-Residency Malta scheme to attract digital businesses.
• €5,000 to SMEs for tech and AI tools.
• Create a €1,000 Skills Wallet every three years for adult training.
• Invest 2% of GDP in research and development by 2030.
• Target 50% of renewable energy by 2030. 
• Creative AI and cultural heritage hub.
• Exempt startup founders from tax on the first €500,000 of capital income from the sale of shares if the company has been operating in Malta for at least three years and has created local jobs.
• Duty-free imports of equipment and software linked to ecological technology, creative AI, and research and development.
• Promote Gozo as an economic acceleration zone and develop blue economy industries.

2. Private sector/ SMEs / Self-employed

• Reduce corporate tax for micro and small enterprises.
• Create a tapering system so growing businesses are not penalised as they pass thresholds.
• Raise the VAT exemption threshold for small businesses from €35,000 to €70,000.
• Provide fully financed employee training and shared apprenticeship schemes for SMEs.
• Create at least 100 affordable industrial spaces for small businesses.
• Establish an independent public procurement authority and a Business/SME Commissioner.
• An independent commissioner for businesses within the Ombudsman's Office.
• Market Makers, liquidity backstop and incentives for private liquidity providers to make the Malta Stock Exchange more attractive. 
• Support startups through stock-option tax changes, mentoring, IP clinics, Living Labs and dedicated funding.
• €50 million fund for Maltese micro enterprises.
• Offer SMEs digital support through an SME Digital Pass and AI/technology assistance.
• Visas for founders, researchers and technical professionals.
• Living Labs that test new solutions before they are launched in the real world.
• National Skills Compact - an agreement between the government, industry, unions, university, MCAST and trainers - to ensure new skills reflect the current needs of the economy.
• Made in Malta trademark.
• Malta Co‑operative Futures Fund that provides seed capital.

3. Tax cuts

• Reduce income tax and widen tax bands to guarantee a minimum of €1,200 annual rebate.
• Adjust tax bands annually according to COLA and make COLA tax-free.
• Remove stamp duty on inherited property and remove tax on inherited family businesses.
• Remove tax on property donations from parents to children.
• Extend first-time buyer stamp duty exemptions up to €350,000.
• Remove tax on the first €10,000 from overtime and part-time work.
• Exempt income earned by families hosting foreign students.

4. Health and Sport

• Build four new hospitals. 
• Expand Mater Dei and increase specialised beds and operating theatres.
• Create a National Health Park.
• Introduce free family doctor visits for elderly and vulnerable people.
• Guarantee cancer treatment and expand access to free medicines.
• Reform mental health care through community-based services and smaller specialised facilities.
• Smartwatch for young people aged between 15 and 25 to encourage physical activity and a healthy lifestyle.
• Expand hospital-at-home, community care, medicines delivered to elderly people, ambulance services and diagnostic access.
• Better staffing, training, working conditions for health workers.
• Strengthen psychological support in schools.
• MedTech Innovation Hub and a valorisation centre, so that Malta can develop an ecosystem of innovation within the health sector.
• Higher stipend for nursing and other health-related courses.
• New medical school at the University of Malta.
• New financial package for health workers within the first 100 days in government.
• Create a dedicated Sports Ministry, a 2026-2035 sport strategy, more public sports facilities, school-sport standards, elite athlete support and a national sport excellence fund.
• Include measures for women in sport, people with disabilities, sports, tourism, coaching standards and a long-promised car-racing track.
• Lower tax to 5% for sport professionals, including coaches, administrators and officials.

5. Education and Skills

• Set up STEAM - a national secondary school for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.
• Strengthen skills, vocational education and lifelong learning.
• Increase stipends by 25%.
• Improve the link between education and emerging economic sectors such as AI, data, technology and New Space.
• English and Maltese competence courses for child carers.
• Revise and update curricula. 
• Alternative Learning Programmes from Year 9 onwards.
• Programme to decrease early school leavers.
• Address the financial challenges of Gozitans studying in Malta who need to cover additional transport and accommodation costs. 
• Set up regional skill hubs.
• Tax credits and cofinancing for companies that offer placements, mentoring and structured training.
• Extend apprenticeships to the public sector. 
• After school hours Community Learning Hubs.
• Malta Skills Card and Digital Wallet that takes into consideration. Continuing Professional Development efforts.

6. Social Policy

• Extend maternity leave to six months on full pay and paternity leave to six weeks on full pay. 
• Introduce 15 days of government-paid leave for parents when children are sick.
• Strengthen the right to flexible work and extend leave benefits to self-employed people.
• Launch a pilot four-day work week.
• Set a minimum number of remote working hours for working parents and those caring for a family member.
• Mandatory 40% representation of the underrepresented gender when it comes to the election of chairpeople, board members, authorities commissions, public committees and wherever appointments are not done through a competition. 
• €5,000 for every newborn through the Child Trust Fund
• €1,000 per year for five years for those aged under 35 who want to invest in a pension scheme. 
• A yearly €2,000 for every child that grandparents care for.
• Increase pensions annually and improve support for elderly people living at home.
• Pensioners who sell their house to buy a smaller or more accessible place will be duty exempt on the first €350,000.
• Family Bond for parents who want to invest money in their children's studies.
• Launch housing associations.
• Rent Support Scheme for those aged 65 and over who do not qualify for rent subsidy.
• Pensioners to receive at least €650 yearly increase in their pensions.
• Broaden social support measures for people at risk of poverty, families and vulnerable communities.
• Introduce a legal guarantee that ensures people with a disability continue finding state support when they turn 22.
• 15% discount on utility bills and the removal of meter rent for NGOs.

7. Youth

• Five years income-tax-free for young people in their first 10 years of work.
• €400 per month to Gozitan students.
• Minimum wage grant for students who are also parents (aged 35 and under).
• Study leave for full-time workers who also study.
• Genitourinary clinic in Gozo.
• Frame youth policy around helping young people build a future in Malta rather than leaving.

8. Transport, Infrastructure and Planning

• A mass rapid transport system that is free for residents, with a substantial underground component, with a first north-south line operational in first legislature. 
• Reform road licences to charge according to road usage. 
• Set up an academy for Railway and Mobility Skills.
• Launch a multi-modal transport app.
• Fiscal incentives for companies that organise car-pooling. 
• Public parking scheme plan. 
• Transferable vouchers for whoever scraps their car, even if they do not immediately buy a new one.
• Review all local plans for Malta and Gozo. 
• A scheme to incentivise people to regenerate vacant premises and turn them into accommodation, offices, or cultural and social events.
• Pocket parks in derelict spaces.
• Set up a national geological office.
• The government would not be able to strip protection from ODZ through a simple majority, but would need a two-thirds majority to do so.

9. Energy and Water

• Keep energy subsidies where needed to avoid increases in electricity and water bills.
• Cut electricity bills by removing meter rental fees, revising unit bands.
• Strengthen eco-reduction for people living alone by raising the threshold to 3,000 units.
• Aim for 30% renewable energy by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050.
• Solar canopies in public parking lots.
• Floating offshore wind energy.
• Water fountains in squares and tourist places.
• Drop the EV charging rate from 12ċ98 to 10ċ47 for those who charge their car at home.

10. Gozo

• Two new Gozo Channel ferries by 2029.
• Expanding the Mġarr port.
• Increase fast-ferry frequency and extend service later into the evening.
• Build a breakwater in Marsalforn.
• Reform the Constitution to recognise Gozo as a region.
• Set up a Destination Management Organisation for Gozo.
• Improve Gozo’s road network, parking and public transport.
• Gozo tourist ecotax is reinvested in Gozo.
• Tax credits for whoever works at least 12 months within the hospitality sector in Gozo.
• Expand university courses and professional support for EU funds.
• Invest €9 million in Gozo’s cultural sector.
• Create a specialised police drug squad and a safe place for domestic violence victims.
• Position Gozo as a distinct economic and social region with its own development potential.
• Open an underwater museum in Gozo. 
• Build a quay for boutique cruise liners.
• €9 million fund for theatres and cultural centres.
• Regenerate Ġnien Ulisse in Xewkija and the Qbajjar promenade.
• Create a modern glamping site in Gozo.
• Prioritise Gozitan herders when they are transferring animals between the two islands on the Gozo Channel ferries.
• Install a speed camera on Triq l‑Imġarr in Għajnsielem.
• Migrant Workforce Integration Unit for Gozo.
• Make Rabat health centre 24/7.
• Resident radiologist and 24/7 ultrasound services at the Gozo General Hospital.
• Well-equipped Gozo courts.
• Athletics track for clubs and triathlon athletes, Obstacle Course Racing and Target Shooting Range in Gozo.

11. Tourism

• Slash VAT for the catering sector from 18% to 7%.
• Allow tourism operators to defer tax on up to 20% of profits if they reinvest that money within three years. Those retained profits will then be taxed at 15%.
• Tax-free income for families hosting English language students.
• Measure tourism success by quality-focused metrics like tourist spend, length of stay and repeat visits.
• Carrying capacity framework: Introduce a legal framework to establish limits on visitor numbers for specific localities, beaches, and historical sites.
• Yearly audits of noise, traffic, cleanliness, and resident satisfaction in tourism hubs.
• Initiative to remove visual clutter, including overhead wires, broken street furniture, and non-standard signage that "uglifies" the country.
• Create a continuous walking path around the entire coast of Malta and Gozo.
• Establish a specific fund for the Grand Harbour and Three Cities to develop them as distinct, premium cultural destinations.
• Marketing Gozo specifically for eco tourism, wellness, and digital nomads.
• Integrating local agricultural products into the core tourism brand. through specialised "food trails" and farmers' markets.
• Establish a specialised academy within the ITS to train frontliners and managers in "Maltese Hospitality".
• Incentives to lure workers who left the hospitality sector back into it.
• Reforming tour guide licensing to allow for deeper specialisation.
• Work to attract more legacy airlines, particularly from Asia and the United States, to fly to Malta.

12. Culture

• Create a cultural district in Marsa with an expo centre and concert hall for the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.
• A legal framework to recognise the professional status of artists.
• Allow artists to file taxes using income averaging over three years.
• A 30% tax credit for contributions to arts organisations and NGOs.
• Public procurement scheme to display Maltese art in government buildings.
• Tax credits for families and businesses that buy local art.
• Standardising on-time payments for cultural contracts by public entities, including interest on late payments.
• Formally integrating the arts into the existing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) framework.
• A €2 million fund for students pursuing artistic, cultural, and technical studies.
• Establish a National Academy of the Arts.
• Paid placements and mentoring within theatres, museums, and festivals.
• A new building for the National Archives.
• Scheme to restore sacred art in collaboration with the Church.
• Malta Film Commission reform.
• Reform film financing to prioritise"below-the-line" expenditure on local services.
• Finalising the carnival hub in Marsa.
• A one-stop shop for festa and cultural activity permits.
• Subsidising warehousing for parish feast organisations.
• Scheme to provide insurance to volunteers in cultural and traditional NGOs.
• National Culture Pass for seniors and families to access museums, theatres, and cinemas.

13. Environment

• A ‘real’ park in every locality.
• A new law that clearly defines a ‘park’ or ‘green space’.
• Establish mandatory standards for all parks, including requirements for non-paved land, tree density, and intergenerational accessibility.
• A €26m project to create a 16,000-square-metre park, civic centre and parking in Santa Venera.
• Pledge to acquire land at market value to create open spaces in communities.
• Veto power for ERA in applications concerning ODZ land.
• New planning laws and a masterplan for every locality updated every 10 years.
• Law to freeze construction once planning permits are appealed, with a six-month deadline for appeals
• National programme for white roofs, street shading, and tree planting to combat urban heat.
• Prioritising natural interventions such as valley restorations over concrete-based solutions for flooding and pollution management.
• Local councils to get back power for environmental, cleaning, and beautification responsibilities
• National mandatory standards for public cleanliness
• Statutory limits for noise pollution
• Expanding national air quality monitoring network with a live, public dashboard.
• A 24/7 national veterinary hospital.
• Introducing a "positive list" of species that can be legally kept.
• Integrating Natura 2000 sites, valleys, and rural corridors into a single national management framework.
• Comino carrying capacity to be published.Top of Form

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14. Agriculture

• Lower electricity rates for farmers.
• Aid for fishermen to modernise their vessels.
• National framework to ensure farmers do not sell below their input costs.
• Mandatory contracts for milk, meat, vegetables, and fruit for producers.
• Create an entity to publish data on prices and costs across the food chain.
• Create a verified ‘Maltese product’ label to combat food fraud.
• Aid, low-interest loans and mentorship for farmers under 40.
• A digital register to identify abandoned or underutilised agricultural land and facilitate its transfer to active, genuine farmers.
• Farmers to get help to transfer their farms to their heirs.
• Extend ‘new water’ network.
• Grants for drip irrigation, soil sensors, and digital water controls.
• Mandatory rainwater collection for all government-supported investments.
• Pilot projects to allow farmers and herders to benefit from "nature credits".
• Recycling of manure to reduce reliance on imported fertilisers.
• Prioritising local, seasonal products in public canteens, hospitals, and schools.
• Agritech, genetics training centre.
• Integrated National Board: Creating a central board to coordinate policy between food, water, agriculture, and fishing stakeholders.
• National indicators for food and water security.

15. Governance

• Within a year, establish clear timelines for court cases.
• More judges for family courts, resources for mediation and specialist staff.
• Judiciary to get a say in appointing a chief justice.
• Revised appointments to specialist tribunals.
• Board to investigate serious public-sector injustices.
• Improved pay, conditions and pensions for the police, armed forces, civil protection and correctional services.
• Salary matching to attract staff with specialised skills to disciplined forces
• Police stations will be re-opened across Malta and Gozo, and integrated into the community policing scheme.
• CPD to get database of site plans to use in cases of emergencies.
• Local councils to be responsible for wardens and local enforcement.
• LESA and Transport Malta officials involved in traffic management and enforcement will qualify for a pension after 25 years of service.
• A population authority which will draw up plans on Malta population levels and capacity.
• Immigration law reform.
• Online interview with third-country nationals before they come to Malta
• More “professional” MPs.
• More detailed asset declarations by MPs that are subject to independent auditing. “Serious consequences” for any MP who provides incomplete or misleading information.
• Ministers to appear before a parliamentary committee to answer questions about spending, appointments, and decisions that fall under their responsibility.
• Clearer rules for persons of trust, including ministerial advisers.
• More transparent and traceable public procurement and limited use of direct orders.
• Simplified procedures for smaller contracts.
• Full implementation of recommendations arising from public inquiries, independent reports, and official investigations.
• Public register of government spending on advertising in independent media.
• Shorter deadlines and enforceable decisions in freedom of information requests.

16. Foreign Affairs

• Neutrality to remain, with a focus on Malta’s mediation role.
• Priority to fundamental European values like democracy, rule of law, freedom of the press.
• Strategic alliances with other small countries will be built.
• Malta will contribute to security fields like civil protection, digital resilience, work against hybrid threats, maritime security, and research.
• Malta will work with the EU to strengthen the protection of elections and institutions against disinformation, cyberattacks, and foreign interference.
• Support for a European migration system.
• Malta will work towards making the Mediterranean a region of climate cooperation on marine protection, renewable energy, and the management of natural resources.
• Support for a European mechanism to scrutinise foreign investment in critical infrastructure and sensitive technology.
• Thematic trade desks will be opened in foreign hubs.
• Voluntary auditing for SMEs to assess their level of readiness for export markets and identify areas where they can improve.
• Strengthening cooperation, information-sharing, and technological monitoring with EU and Mediterranean partners to protect critical infrastructure like undersea cables, pipelines, and energy connectivity.