News • 10 November 2002

Earliest date for referendum is end of February

By Kurt Sansone

valletta: Although the date of the EU membership referendum is the Prime Minister’s sole prerogative, if the appointment with the electorate is going to be held soon after the closure of negotiations, the most likely dates would be 22 February or 1 March, 2003.

With the negotiations scheduled to come to a close by December 12, it is highly unlikely that the Prime Minister would go for a referendum over the Christmas period. In any case, Parliament would still be discussing the budget estimates.

Parliament normally goes to recess a week or two before Christmas and reconvenes in the second or third week of January. However, the length of the recess depends on the work before the House.

For a referendum to be held it is important for Parliament to be in session. What few people know is that before submitting the membership question to a referendum Parliament has to pass a resolution containing a specific proposal suggesting that Malta join the EU. The Referenda Act stipulates that the electorate’s approval can then be sought for the proposals as set out in the resolution.

Furthermore, a minimum of five weeks have to lapse between the publication of the writ by the President and polling day. In this scenario, and assuming that the referendum would be held soon after the closure of negotiations, the earliest dates possible for the referendum to be held are the last Saturday in February or the first Saturday in March.

The law regulating referenda also states that a question has to have a clear ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer, ruling out the possibility of asking people to choose between membership and the Labour Party’s partnership option.

However, the Prime Minister has yet to make up his mind on whether the referendum would be held on the same day as the general election. Over recent months Dr Fenech Adami has consistently given signals that he intends holding the two separately. The arguments in the balance hinge on the possibility that the Labour Party would boycott a referendum.

By holding the referendum and general election on the same day, presumably the Labour Party would not be able to officially campaign for a boycott out of fear that a boycott would keep people away from the polls.

On the other hand, by holding the referendum on a separate day pro-EU Labour voters could be enticed to break ranks with their party’s stand and vote for membership. Both the IVA and CNI movements want the referendum to be held on a separate date.