PN tables no-confidence motion against energy minister

The Nationalist Party tabled a motion of no confidence and censure in Energy Minister Miriam Dalli in Parliament's plenary session on Wednesday 22 July 2026. Opposition leader Alex Borg and PN Shadow Minister for Energy and the Environment Mark Anthony Sammut filed the motion together. Dalli holds the full title of Minister for Energy, the Environment and the Regeneration of the Grand Harbour.

The motion calls on Parliament to strongly censure her, for the House of Representatives to express distrust in her as Energy Minister and for a formal demand for her resignation. The PN also calls on Prime Minister Robert Abela to demand Dalli's resignation and to immediately remove her from Cabinet if she refuses to go.

The motion was tabled on Wednesday but will be debated during a future plenary session. It was triggered by a recent spate of power outages that left thousands of families and businesses without electricity for long hours in the days before 22 July 2026, at the height of summer. The PN noted that a similar crisis struck in summer 2023, when a comparable motion of no confidence was also tabled.

During that episode, households that endured power cuts of at least six hours could claim compensation of between €60 and €110 as credit on their utility bills. The party identified the electricity distribution network as the root cause of both the 2023 and the current crises, citing a National Audit Office report that found serious shortcomings in Enemalta's planning of the distribution network and concluded that lack of investment in that network was the main cause of the power outage crisis.

"This motion is based on the government's serious failure to provide an essential service to the Maltese and Gozitan people, following weeks of repeated power cuts that left thousands of families and businesses without electricity for long hours at the height of summer," the PN stated. The party argued the government had failed to plan for growing electricity demand despite substantial increases in population and demand, adding: "The PN believes that a minister must shoulder political responsibility when failures within their portfolio lead to a national crisis that directly affects people's lives and health."

The Labour Party rejected that framing. "The Nationalist Party's request for the resignation of Minister Miriam Dalli confirms once again that in the face of every challenge the Opposition's only interest is not to offer solutions, but to achieve political gain and demand resignations," the PL said. The party stated that under Dalli, the largest ever electricity distribution system investment programme in Malta is currently being carried out and that the second interconnector project is running under her leadership to strengthen energy supply security.

The PL added that Dalli secured a new energy supply agreement at the start of the current legislature and that the government has kept electricity and energy prices stable despite high international inflation. No date for the future plenary debate on the motion has been announced.