Maltese Political Union
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The Maltese Political Union (Italian: Unione Politica Maltese, Maltese: Unjoni Politika Maltija) was a political party in Malta.
History
The party was established in 1920 by a merger of the Malta Political Association and the Patriotic Committee.[1] It emerged as the largest party in Parliament as a result of the 1921 elections, and its leader Joseph Howard became the country's first Prime Minister.[1]
The 1924 elections saw the party reduced to 10 seats, and it had to form a coalition with the Democratic Nationalist Party to stay in power. In 1926 the two parties merged to form the Nationalist Party.[1]
In 1947 the Democratic Action Party was established as a revived Maltese Political Union.[2]
Ideology
The party sought to give the Italian language equal status with English in education and to progress towards self-government. It also defended the powers of the Catholic church.[1]