MLP to present changes in private member's bill

The Labour Party parliamentary group announced yesterday that on Monday it would present a private member's bill to parliament carrying all its amendments to the electoral laws.

The Labour Party last month questioned the government's good intentions on the subject.

"Does the government really believe in a just, fair and democratic electoral process? If so, what is keeping it back from carrying out the necessary changes," Labour Party deputy leader George Vella asked yesterday at a news conference by the party's parliamentary group at the Parliament building, when the group urged the government to stop dragging its feet on the subject.

The Nationalist Party was quick to react, accusing the Labour Party of doing its utmost to deny people their right to vote.

Last month, deputy prime minister Lawrence Gonzi told the House Business Committee that the drafting of a bill to amend the electoral law as agreed between the government and the opposition was in its final stages and should be concluded within a few days.

Dr Gonzi had said the attorney general was considering the draft which, he had been informed, was in its final stages.

But a month on there had still not been any developments, said Dr Vella, who is standing in for party leader Alfred Sant, who is abroad.

"We can't allow the government to use the power it thinks it has in parliament to play around with democracy," he charged.

Dr Vella reiterated that the opposition was not insisting on the reintroduction of embarkation cards but that there should be a system to control people entering or leaving Malta. In the past, he said, there had been cases of people voting in an irregular manner.

Article 57 lays down that a person needs to have spent six months in Malta of the previous 18 months to be eligible to vote.

The opposition felt that several points had been agreed upon between the two sides since last year, Dr Vella said. These included ways to check that the residence requirements of voters were met.

One point on which agreement had not been reached related to how the eligibility of a person to vote was to be contested.

Neither had the two sides agreed on whether it was the person concerned who should prove his eligibility or whether it should be the party which was contesting that person's eligibility that should prove its case.

Dr Vella said it had been hoped that the amendments would be presented to parliament before the last budget. Not only had they not been presented by then, but another six months had passed with no mention of the new electoral law.

He expressed concern that the issue would be prolonged further while the amendments first passed through the parliamentary process subsequently to be reflected in the electoral register.

Contrary to last year, the Labour Party parliamentary group yesterday took part in the June 7 celebrations. This was to avoid any misinterpretations, Dr Vella said.

Last year, just after the MLP-nominated representatives had resigned from the Electoral Commission, the party boycotted the Sette Giugno manifestation to "relay a message to the authorities".

MLP deputy leader Joe Brincat said the MLP did not believe it was right for a person to obtain an exemption to turn up once every five years to vote in an election.

Malta's small size often meant that a few hundred votes made the difference, he said.

The Nationalist Party shot down the MLP's protests and said the PN would not intrude into the private lives of the Maltese by overseeing who was leaving and entering the island.

Furthermore, under the existing electoral law, the political parties had enough procedures to make their own verifications of voters, the PN said.

It believed the time was ripe for a change in the constitution to ensure that all those Maltese who are temporarily abroad - for work, study or any other circumstances - would be eligible to vote.

The PN emphasised that depriving people of the right to vote should be the exception, not the rule.

"In the discussions held between the two political parties, the agreements were on the proposals to the electoral law. Proposals of a technical nature were secondary at this point in time," it said.