Pro-divorce movement to seek ‘presence’ during divorce referendum

Last week, MaltaToday reported how amendments to Malta’s Referendum Act in 2002 – a year before the EU referendum – gave the Nationalist and Labour Parties exclusive privileges in the political supervision of all stages of preparation and conduct of the May 28 divorce referendum:  including the automatic right to field Assistant Commissioners.

This means that, despite having a declared stake in proceedings, organised campaigns such as the Iva movement and Zwieg Bla Divorzju cannot nominate Assistant Commissioners of their own. Nor are they privy to briefings from the Electoral Commission relating to the referendum process, unlike the represented political parties.

Contacted by MaltaToday, pro-divorce movement chairperson Deborah Schembri said that it was “unfortunate that the way the Act is structured does not take into account the participation of movements which are not the main parties, or related to them.”

“We obviously want to be ‘present’ during the referendum,” she said. Schembri argued that, given how the political parties are divided on divorce (as proponents from both sides of the divide have been speaking for and against divorce) the referendum act proves itself “insufficient to cater for the way the divorce issue is playing out.”

However, Schembri does not seem overly concerned. “While we’re not happy with the current laws, it is highly unlikely that, just months before the referendum, they could be changed. Our policy is to change what can be changed. If something can’t, we’ll waste no effort trying, and work towards managing as best we can.”

She said the movement is actively pursuing options to ensure its presence throughout the referendum preparation, execution, and the subsequent vote-counting. “We will be meeting with the Electoral Commission with a mind to explore options to have representatives involved in monitoring the voting process and within the counting halls.”

Also contacted by MaltaToday, a spokesperson for the anti-divorce Moviment Zwieg Bla Divorzju maintained that speculation on their involvement in the referendum electoral process is premature as “[they] still need to learn how the Electoral Commission is proposing to manage the process.”

Saying that the movement’s participation throughout the referendum itself is current “of secondary importance”, the spokesperson said that it is currently focusing on “actively promote the importance of marriage as a permanent bond which should out-rightly reject the misleading question being put forward to the electorate.”

Last week, Iva movement campaign manager Michael Falzon told MaltaToday that the movement had already applied to have Assistant Commissioners, “but the Commission pointed towards the Referendum Act, which limits representation only to the two larger parties.”

Nonetheless, the Electoral Commission is obliged by law to issue a public call for applications in which all members of the public can participate. However, there is no legal obligation to consider these applications, still less to approve them.

Consultative referenda are governed by the same provisions of the General Election Act, which details how the Electoral Commission handles logistical preparations spanning from printing and distribution of voting documents and ballot papers, to administration and monitoring of polling booths, and the counting of votes, among others.

But for the purposes of the Referendum Act, the definition of ‘political party’ was amended in 2002 – a year before the EU referendum – to refer only to the two parties represented in Parliament.

In practical terms this changes little, as the General Election Act also makes the same distinction in all but a few cases. However, these exceptional cases include automatic representation at polling stations and counting hall to monitor proceedings, and the right to detailed information on demand from the Electoral Commission.

Unrepresented political parties have already been officially informed by the Electoral Commission that they cannot submit nominees.