| Country: | Malta |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 1976 Maltese general election |
| Previous Year: | 1976 |
| Next Election: | 1987 Maltese general election |
| Next Year: | 1987 |
| Election Date: | 12 December 1981 |
| Party2: | Nationalist Party (Malta) |
| Last Election2: | 48.46%, 31 seats |
| Seats2: | 31 |
| Popular Vote2: | 114,132 |
| Percentage2: | 50.92% |
| Swing2: | 2.46pp |
| Image1: | Dom Mintoff (1974).jpg |
| Party1: | Labour Party (Malta) |
| Last Election1: | 51.53%, 34 seats |
| Seats1: | 34 |
| Popular Vote1: | 109,990 |
| Percentage1: | 49.07% |
| Swing1: | 2.46pp |
| Prime Minister | |
| Before Election: | Dom Mintoff |
| Before Party: | Labour Party (Malta) |
| After Election: | Dom Mintoff |
| After Party: | Labour Party (Malta) |
General elections were held in Malta on 12 December 1981.[1]
The opposition Nationalist Party, reinvigorated with a new leader Eddie Fenech Adami, looked set for a serious challenge to the Labour Party, which had been in power since 1971 under Prime Minister Dom Mintoff. However, the elections resulted in controversy because although the Nationalist Party received a majority of votes, the disproportionality of the single transferable vote allowed the Maltese Labour Party to win a majority of seats. Mintoff said he would not be ready to govern in such conditions and hinted that he would call for fresh elections within six months. However, he eventually accepted the President's invitation to form a government and continued in office. This provoked a constitutional crisis, with the Nationalist Party boycotting parliament. The aftermath of the political crisis continued throughout the 1980s, with an increase in political violence in the streets.
Following the elections changes were made to the voting system to prevent a recurrence of the same problem. Under the new system, if a repeat of the 1981 scenario occurred, the party supported by an overall majority of voters would be awarded a sufficient number of additional seats from a party list to give it a majority.[2]
The elections were held using the single transferable vote system, with five-seat constituencies.