Government confirms electoral deal

Prime Minister and Nationalist Party leader Lawrence Gonzi is to recommend for the approval of his party's MPs an agreement reached between the PN and MLP, which would impose strict proportionality between votes and seats.

The agreement was drawn up on Friday night between representatives of the two parties, the Home Affairs Ministry told The Times.

Though the proposals have not yet been discussed within the Nationalist Party's parliamentary group, Dr Gonzi will be recommending their approval since they are based on the PN's own proposals, the ministry said.

Opposition leader Alfred Sant broke the news of a breakthrough in the long-drawn out talks over the issue after attending a political activity on Sunday. However, Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg later said he had not been informed of any agreement between the parties.

The PN had insisted that Gozo should continue to be considered as a single electoral district, irrespective of the number of voters. Last year, the Electoral Commission had said that Ghajnsielem would be severed from Gozo, the 13th district, because the population of Gozo had exceeded the electoral quota.

The Nationalists had also recommended the concept of strict proportionality in the number of parliamentary seats if only two parties are represented in Parliament, with the number of seats reflecting the proportion of votes won by the parties.

The PN turned down the Labour Party's proposal that a party with a relative majority of at least 45 per cent should be given the right to an absolute majority of seats, even if other parties represented in Parliament together have more votes.

Since the MLP has now accepted the principle of full proportionality, the electoral districts and their configuration have become irrelevant to the majority of seats a party has in government, the ministry said.

This means that the districts may be kept in their present formation since they do not favour nor prejudice the majority of seats of the party that wins the next general election.

The government suspended the debate in Parliament on proposed constitutional amendments in connection with Gozo to try and hammer out a solution through the discussions.

Talks led by MLP deputy leader Michael Falzon and PN general secretary Joe Saliba were covered by a confidentiality clause.

"Since the discussions between the parties were bound by confidentiality, the agreement was kept under wraps - but since the opposition leader announced that an agreement had been reached, this office felt the need to clarify matters," the ministry said.