MLP conference to discuss voting rights next week
An extraordinary general conference of the Labour Party will be convened next Friday at 6 p.m., the party's executive decided last night.
The party in a statement announced the holding of the conference but did not say its purpose - which is to discuss a petition for an amendment to the statute so that all paid up members may be eligible to vote for the party leadership.
Some 120 of the 900 party delegates signed the petition, presented last week by MP Marlene Pullicino,That number exceeded the 10 per cent threshold required by the party statute to force an EGM.
If approved, the amendment will open the vote to Labour’s current 19,000 members.
To date voting rights are only assigned to the delegates at the general conference, but leadership hopeful George Abela had voiced the idea of extending it to the membership when he showed his interest in contesting the election to succeed Alfred Sant. The election will be held next month.
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Prof. John Baldacchino
May 3rd 2008, 17:12
I am rather surprised by the fuss created over the proposal to elect Labour's Leader by balloting all MLP members. Unless I am mistaken, the three major parties in Britain (Labour, Tories and LibDems) have a similar system where members vote for their Party Leader. I know for sure that the late John Smith, then leader of the British Labour Party, introduced a one member one vote system to eliminate the Unions' block-vote. Tony Blair was subsequently elected through a one-member-one-vote system, following public debates on the BBC and ITV. For those interested, a quick Google search yields a lot of information on one-member-one-vote systems adopted in the UK and Canada. See for example the Wiki entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Member_One_Vote
Joseph Grech-Attard
May 3rd 2008, 15:35
Thank you Mr. Bonnici. I did not know that.
So I augur MLP not to fall within the trap or else what happened to Veltroni and the Partito Democratico in Italy in the last elections is likely to happen to it as well.
Mario Bonnici
May 3rd 2008, 11:47
In reply to Mr Joseph Grech Attard.
The answer is yes: Italy, the Partito Democratico when Walter Veltroni was elected leader.
Joseph Grech-Attard
May 3rd 2008, 10:37
Just for my own curiosity,please, is there any country in the EU, including Malta, where party paid-up members, and not delegates, vote for the leadership of the party? i am really curious to know. Thank you.