Editorial

That the two main political parties have expressed satisfaction with the way the new electoral boundaries have been drawn up marks a change in the political climate.

The new districts were approved unanimously by the seven members of the Electoral Commission after bitter recriminations in May when the commission was divided, with four members signing the commission's first draft of the new boundaries and the remaining members submitting a minority report.

Not surprisingly, that first draft had been rejected by the House of Representatives and sent back for reconsideration. The new boundaries, heavily revised, are now more in keeping with the constitutional requirement of geographical vicinity for the localities forming each district. The boundaries are now final and in terms of the Constitution they cannot be altered before two years are up but within five years.

The Electoral Commission had no choice but to hive off Ghajnsielem from the Gozo district and link it to Mellieha and Naxxar once the population of Gozo exceeded the electoral quota laid down by the Constitution on the number of registered voters in each district.

The political parties had known that that would happen and once they both agree that Gozo should continue to be considered as one region for voting purposes, it is a pity that they did not push a constitutional amendment through in time.

The situation now adds pressure on the parties to agree on a whole package of changes to the Constitution and the electoral law aimed at improving the way general elections are held and ensuring that the result strictly reflects the voters' will.

Talks have been held at the highest levels between the parties and progress was reportedly achieved. It is disquieting therefore that, according to Michael Falzon, deputy leader of the Labour Party, the talks have now stopped but are planned to resume. One hopes this is only a summer break, but the sooner the process is completed the better, especially as the elections approach.

The thorniest issue and the one which is most important is over how the electoral result is translated into representation in Parliament. The way the boundaries of electoral districts were crafted in the past had led to situations where the government or the opposition were over-represented.

The current arrangement, under which the party winning an absolute majority of first-count votes is guaranteed a majority of one in Parliament, is far from adequate. The majority party may be deserving of a majority of more than one seat in the House. And there can be situations which render the current arrangement inoperative and potentially lead to a crisis on the lines of what happened in 1981.

The objective should therefore be to make the electoral boundaries irrelevant for the strength of the parties in the House and necessary only for the delineation of constituencies.

Other issues also need to be settled, such as guaranteeing the right to vote to the growing number of Maltese who are working or studying abroad.

The agreement reached within the Electoral Commission on the electoral boundaries was clearly a step in the right direction. But it must only be seen as a first step towards the realisation of the ultimate goal of an electoral system which everyone can have confidence in.