AD blasts 'cowardly' electoral deal

The electoral deal cooked up between the two main parties has been described as "cowardly" by Alternattiva Demokratika.

The Bill amending the Constitution, to be moved in Parliament soon, would sacrifice the national interest and the democratic rights of every citizen for partisan convenience, AD has charged.

The Constitution is to be amended so that when only two parties are elected to the House, parliamentary seats will be assigned strictly in proportion to the votes each party has won nationally, according to Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg.

But AD deputy chairman Stephen Cachia dismissed the strict proportionality claim. In reality, the agreement will only appease the Nationalist and Labour parties, especially since the threshold to elect a party in Parliament remains at 16.7 per cent for each district.

If the MLP and PN really believed in strict proportionality they would have widened the clause to apply to all parties - easily attainable if there was agreement on a national quota.

Mr Cachia said that the agreement reached between the two parties in no way eliminates the risk of a perverse result if more than two parties are elected to government.

Nevertheless, AD has full faith that the electorate will one day put a stop to these antics and partisan manoeuvres.

"The people have the power of the vote and should have the courage to use it to remove once and for all the partisan muzzle infiltrating the country," Mr Cachia said.