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Mystery shrouds electoral process amendments

By Kurt Sansone

Silence and mystery surround the proposed changes to the electoral law drafted by the Nationalist and Labour parties and with the proposals now in the Attorney General’s hands to draft the bill to amend current legislation, the country may be faced with a ‘fait accompli’ later on this year.

After information was leaked to the press that the two major political parties had submitted their joint proposals sometime in December, MaltaToday asked the Attorney General what stage the process has now arrived at. But the curt reply was that the questions asked were "covered by professional secrecy".

The controversy over the electoral process came to a head last year when the Labour party representatives on the Electoral Commission resigned, claiming that the commission could not verify the eligibility of voters on a number of counts.

Since then MLP and PN representatives have held a number of regular meetings behind closed doors, to rectify the problems with the electoral process. The only thing certain is that both parties do not agree with the re-introduction of embarkation cards for Maltese citizens, which had originally created the verification problems.

Meanwhile, Alternattiva Demokratika reacted strongly to the revelations that the major parties presented their proposals two months ago without the public’s knowledge. Green party General Secretary Stephen Cachia said the public had every right to be informed of the changes to the electoral process and stressed that AD would oppose any changes granting the two major parties greater power to pry into the private lives of individuals.