The PN was the only political party to propose measures targeting overpopulation.

The claim does not identify a period or explain precisely what is meant by "targeting overpopulation". This assessment compares proposals around the 2026 general election and considers measures intended to manage population growth or the pressures associated with it.

What the PN proposed

On 14 May 2026, the PN proposed a population authority to prepare a Malta Population Levels Plan linked to work and residence permits, a sector-by-sector labour market study and a national capacity plan for infrastructure. It presented the measures as a response to the effects of population growth and a means of improving planning.

What Momentum proposed

Momentum's 2026 electoral manifesto proposed a population capacity study to assess Malta's sustainable population limits, including pressure from tourism in peak seasons (measure 147). The party said the findings would inform decisions on the occupations for which third-country nationals would be recruited.

Momentum also proposed a cap on the inflow of unskilled third-country workers (measure 148) and sectoral quotas informed by labour market analysis (measure 149). These proposals provide a direct counterexample to the claim that the PN was the only political party proposing measures in this area.

The Labour government's migration policy

The Labour government proposed a Labour Migration Policy in January 2025. Its consultation document acknowledged pressure on infrastructure and services and proposed aligning labour migration more closely with labour market needs, alongside worker retention and a skills-based approach.

The policy took effect from 1 August 2025. It restricts employers with high staff turnover, or recent redundancies in the same role, from recruiting third-country nationals, and caps how fast an employer's third-country workforce can grow, from 25% a year for large firms to 200% for micro firms. It also introduced new permit fees, including €600 for a first single permit.

The policy is relevant to population pressures, but its stated objectives also included meeting labour needs and retaining workers. The consultation did not set an overall population ceiling. It should therefore not be assumed to be identical to either the PN or Momentum proposals.

Labour's 2026 manifesto

Labour's 2026 electoral manifesto also contains measures that address population pressures indirectly, by steering growth away from labour-intensive activity and towards capital investment. An economy that grows by making each worker more productive needs fewer additional workers, and in recent years most of the additional workers have been recruited from abroad.

The manifesto proposes a 60% tax credit on business investment in digitalisation, automation and artificial intelligence, with €120 million allocated and up to €15 million per company over four years (measure 38). It commits to sustaining €100 million a year in support for businesses adopting technologies including AI and robotics (measure 34), and proposes accelerated depreciation over two years for investment in AI, digitalisation, automation and cybersecurity, alongside a 175% tax credit on research and innovation spending (measure 66). It also aims for nine in every ten new jobs to be at managerial, technical or professional level (measure 5).

On migration, the manifesto states that the Labour Migration Policy controls the increase in new foreign workers, that foreign workers will come only where and if they are needed, and that future measures will reward businesses that retain their workers and keep investing in them (measure 33).

These measures are not presented as population measures. Their intended effect, however, is to reduce the economy's reliance on recruiting additional workers from abroad, which is the concern at the centre of the overpopulation debate.

Evaluation

The PN was not the only political party to propose measures addressing population capacity and related pressures. Momentum's manifesto provides clear evidence to the contrary. The Labour government also proposed a migration policy that acknowledged infrastructure pressures, although its objectives and instruments differed. Labour's 2026 manifesto also included measures favouring capital investment over labour-intensive growth, which address the same concern indirectly.

Proposing a measure does not demonstrate that it would work. The sources establish that more than one party or government proposed measures related to population pressures. They do not establish how effective these measures would have been in changing the total population or reducing pressures on infrastructure and services.