Gozo as a region

It has been reported that the mayors of the Gozo councils have approved unanimously, except for one mayor who was absent, the constitutional amendment proposed by the government that Gozo be considered as one region for electoral purposes.

I really wonder how the mayors came out in favour of such a proposal when the Bill has not yet been published and the public does not exactly know what the proposal entails. One is not aware of any public consultation prior to the submitting of the proposal and this initiative was not included in the electoral manifesto of the party in government.

As with all constitutional amendments, especially one that does entail entrenchment by a two-thirds majority, one feels one should proceed with extreme caution. In principle, one should shy away from injecting additional inflexibility to the system. It may well be the case that, with the proposed amendment, the vote of a Gozitan resident will have less value than that of a Maltese resident.

If the population of Gozo goes up in the future and substantially exceeds the average number of voters of the electoral districts in Malta than presently allowed by the Constitution, it will take more voters to return a member of Parliament in Gozo than it would take in the electoral districts in Malta.

Thus, I think that one should clarify what would happen if, say, it takes 6,000 voters to return one MP in Gozo whereas it would take 5,000 voters to return an MP in a Maltese electoral district. In such a scenario, it is clear that a Gozitan vote will be devalued by a factor of 20 per cent.

To offer a short-term solution to the present state of electoral demographics as an affirmation of the regionality of Gozo is nothing short of a travesty. Gozo is not recognised as a region under Maltese law, let alone by the EU. We still have colonial legislation that refers to the Island of Malta and its dependencies and, frankly, I don't think that such legislation is far off the mark.

To qualify as a region, a geographical entity has to legally enjoy political and economical autonomy. Gozo enjoys neither and the last time it did was in the days of the Gozo Civic Council which had spurred a renaissance in Gozo. The demise of the Gozo Civic Council is a well-known story; no political party has ever advocated its resurrection.

It cannot be argued that the Ministry for Gozo is an affirmation of regionality. The ministry is part and parcel of the executive and the minister is bound by collective responsibility. The minister can undoubtedly exercise influence in Cabinet decisions and has a role in the running of government departments in Gozo but the interface between the Ministry for Gozo and the other ministries has never been properly defined.

Administrative practices exist but ambiguities abound. One gets the impression that the "Malta" ministries refrain from taking decisions that involve those parts of their departments that are in Gozo - as long as it suits them. On other occasions, they have the last, if not the only, word. At the end of the day, the shots are called by the Ministry of Finance and no mechanism exists for the automatic allocation of resources to Gozo.

One is all for the affirmation of the regionality of Gozo but such affirmation has to be in substance and not as an empty façade for a short-term solution to a current electoral bind that may have other solutions. Such regionality has to entail a measure of political and economical autonomy and an assurance that the state in its various ramifications provides in Gozo all the services that are feasible to duplicate. Regionality entails that a regional authority is created which will exercise a measure of effective executive decision-making. Which political party will have the courage to make such a proposal?

My final appeal goes to the Gozitan MPs. Their loyalty is towards their electorate and I augur they will discuss the proposed constitutional amendment, once published, in a bipartisan spirit and move the necessary amendments to ensure that the regional aspect of Gozo does not remain a dead letter but becomes a reality beneficial to the future development of Gozo.