Electoral deal anti-democratic, AD says

Alternattiva Demokratika has lambasted the new electoral system deal reached between the two main political parties, labelling it "anti-democratic".

Once again the Nationalist Party and the Labour Party's hunger for power has obscured the possibility of fair representation, the Green party has charged.

On the other hand, it seems that even when they do agree, the government and the opposition still find something to disagree on.

The PN gave details of the agreement on Monday after Labour leader Alfred Sant had told The Times the previous day that a deal had been reached, without, however, going into detail. But, re-confirming the agreement yesterday, Dr Sant attempted to take the wind out of the PN's sails, issuing a statement to give "the facts" leading to the agreement, which brought an end to long months of political bickering.

While the PN and MLP were busy trying to take the credit, AD said it was shameful that the two big parties had agreed to make Gozitans' votes count less than those of the Maltese.

"Neither party believes that Gozitans deserve the appropriate representation in Parliament. It is evident that in order to suit the two big parties' interests, Gozitans will be treated as second-class citizens.

"This is unacceptable in a democracy where everyone should be guaranteed fair representation," AD chairman Harry Vassallo said.

Even though the PN and MLP had agreed to retain Gozo as one district, they were not considering increasing the island's representation given the increase in the number of people who will be voting in Gozo, he explained.

AD deputy chairman Stephen Cachia said that instead of reaching an agreement that respected democratic rights for all, the PN and MLP were safeguarding their interests at everybody's expense.

He argued that the changes that guarantee strict proportionality between the number of votes and actual seats in Parliament, in case only two parties get elected, do not guarantee proportionality between the number of votes and the number of seats on a national level.

In fact, Mr Cachia added, the threshold for a party to be elected to Parliament remains 16 per cent of votes on one district. In practice, this meant the PN and MLP were giving themselves strict proportionality and eliminating other parties which fail to obtain the 15 per cent threshold on one district.

However, the latter would still deserve representation in Parliament if this strict proportionality were calculated on a national level. If both the PN and MLP had the courage to show off their supposed democratic credentials, then they should guarantee strict proportionality for everyone, not just themselves. This could be easily achieved if there was agreement on a national quota, Mr Cachia said.

He added that the new electoral agreement does not eliminate the risk of a perverse result if more than two parties get elected to Parliament.

In the meantime, Dr Sant denied that the electoral boundaries issue was resolved during a meeting between the two parties on Friday, as was claimed by the Office of the Prime Minister.

Earlier this year, the PN had unilaterally stopped talks to change the Constitution, which would have ensured that parties are strictly represented in Parliament in line with the number of votes obtained, he said. The PN in the meantime found it fit to unveil the confidential details of the meetings between the parties.

The government subsequently proposed an amendment to the Constitution to retain Gozo as a single electoral district. The amendment required at least two thirds of the MPs' vote. The Labour opposition agreed with the Gozo proposal but could not vote in favour of the amendment unless a clause was inserted stipulating that in the next election, Malta's electoral districts would remain untouched. The government opposed the MLP's suggestion.

Last August, the PN verbally contacted the MLP to resume negotiations. The PN indicated that it was prepared to accept the proposal, provided another clause was inserted to ensure that the proportion of votes obtained from the first count in the general election is equal to the proportion of parliamentary seats, provided only two parties are represented.

Following discussions, the Labour leaders believed it could form a basis for agreement. It was the MLP that had always insisted on strict proportionality between votes and seats, Dr Sant recalled. It was also the MLP that insisted that proportionality should be worked out on the votes obtained from the first count. Subsequently, the PN sent a memorandum with the details of the proposal and last month, the MLP leaders gave their blessing, followed by that of the party's administration.

The Labour parliamentary group discussed the matter on November 27, followed by the party executive, and the PN was informed of this agreement.

"There was no meeting or agreement last week. The facts are in this statement," Dr Sant said.