Muscat demands packet of Electoral Law changes in stormy parliamentary sitting

Opposition leader Joseph Muscat this evening strongly objected to the way how the government had moved amendments to the Electoral Law on early voting, and said such changes would only be acceptable to the Opposition if they were part of a wider package.

Speaking in the stormiest parliamentary sitting of the legislature so far, Dr Muscat accused the government of arrogance, and said that amendments such as this should have first been discussed in the Select Committee on Democratic Change, along with other issues such as the eligibility to vote of those living abroad, flight arrangements for those living abroad to vote in Malta, broadcasting, and the security of the Electoral Register.

The amendments provide that people who declare they will be away on polling day may make a sworn declaration and vote on the Saturday before polling day.

Dr Muscat said these amendments were half baked and lacked transparency.

For example, he said, the Electoral Law provided for a day of silence before polling day, but now people would be able to vote at the height of the electoral campaign. And they would vote before being able to consider developments or information which might come up shortly before the election. In Spain, for example, there had been a terrorist attack just days before the elections.

Furthermore, just before the last general election in Malta, a candidate died and ballot papers had to be reprinted. What would happen if a candidate died after the early voting started?

The Electoral Law also said that the distribution of voting documents had to be concluded on the Thursday before polling day. So how could there be early voting?

How was it that people could declare they would be away just 12 hours before early voting? This would not give enough time for verification. Making a sworn declaration was not enough. Voters should be required to produce their air ticket and they should be required to produce evidence, once they were back in Malta, that they had really been abroad.

Furthermore, one could have a situation where a person declared he would be going abroad, but did not go abroad and had a choice of voting either early or on polling day proper. This was not right. Persons who applied for early voting should lose the right to vote on polling day proper.

Furthermore, Dr Muscat said, it had now been confirmed that people who lived abroad could also come to vote a week early.

Amendments such as this required proper debate, but this had not even been discussed in the Select Committee, which had been practically killed off.

OPPOSITION PROPOSALS

Dr Muscat said the Opposition was making various proposals. For example, the right to early voting enjoyed by the assistant electoral commissioners should also be extended to the electoral commissioners.

In order to clamp down on abuses, particularly the stories he had heard of 'bullying' by the government/PN at St Vincent de Paule Home (interruptions), voting should also take place early to ensure there was proper monitoring, not by pro-government workers, but by staff selected by the Electoral Commission.

Flight arrangements should start being made early for voters who needed to be flown in from abroad, so that one would no longer have situations where some people did not find seats. Flight arrangements should henceforth not be made by Air Malta, but by the Electoral Commission. Would the government take up this challenge? (interruptions). After all Air Malta was headed by a person who formed part of the PN strategy group. There were stories in the past where persons were told there were no places on the planes, only for seats to be found after a phone call from the PN.

Dr Muscat said that while the government was amending the Electoral Law, nothing was being said on how the sixth European Parliament seat would be allocated once it became available to Malta. The opposition would not accept a situation of having the appointment made behind the scenes or by Parliament. What the Opposition wanted and was proposing, was that the sixth candidate who got most votes at the last count and failed to get elected would be allocated the sixth seat once this became available.

He said there was also need to discuss voting in embassies in a secure manner.

Dr Muscat said he was challenging the government to declare that all those who voted at the last general election met the appropriate residency requirements and had not been abroad (interruptions). The fact was that there was no verification method and no guarantee could, therefore, be given. (interruptions, Speaker calls for calm).

Interjecting, Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said anyone was free to file an application in Court if he knew of anyone who did not meet residency requirements. He could not give any guarantee, in the same way as Dr Muscat could not confirm that all those who voted for him at the EP elections met the same requirements. Could he give that guarantee for those who voted Labour at the last election? (interruptions). It was a crime for anyone to vote when he did not meet the eligibility criteria and anyone having such knowledge had a duty to inform the authorities.(Speaker calls for calm and warns he would not allow further interruptions).

Dr Muscat said Dr Borg could not confirm that the Electoral Register was accurate and he seemed to know who voted for him and who did not. (interruptions)

Dr Borg said he said nothing of that sort.

Dr Muscat said that whenever Labour spoke about court applications, it was accused of undermining democracy. But now the minister was calling for such applications.

It was serious that there was no certainty with regard to the number of eligible voters.

With regard to right to vote by people who were abroad, the Opposition based itself on the principle of taxation with representation - the eligible voters should be those who paid tax in Malta, with some exceptions for students and those doing voluntary work abroad.

Dr Muscat said the Opposition was not against a system of early voting, but it needed to be properly discussed to ensure there were proper safeguards. And the amendments to the electoral law needed to be more wide ranging.

The Opposition was demanding that all ID Cards should be valid and state broadcasting should be up to scratch.

All these were issues which should have been discussed in the Select Ccommittee. But when did the committee last meet?

The Opposition was prepared to accept these amendments as part of a package which included changes on the renewal of ID cards, agreement on the sixth seat, the issue over flights for people living abroad, proper monitoring of voting at old people's home and proper verification of the Electoral Register for true transparency and accountability, Dr Muscat said.