Updated: Norman Lowell submits nomination for EP election
The leader of the right-wing Imperium Europa party, Norman Lowell, has submitted his nomination to contest the European Parliament elections. His name was included in the list of nominations issued this evening by the Electoral Commission.
Mr Lowell was last year convicted of inciting racial hatred and insulting the President of Malta in speeches in Rabat and Qawra in 2006, carried on the internet. He was eventually given a two-year jail term suspended for four years and fined €500.
An appeal from the sentence was dismissed last October and a Constitutional application where Mr Lowell argued that he was denied the right to a fair hearing by the appeals court, was dismissed last week.
Mr Lowell contested the European Parliament elections in 2004, winning 1,603 votes.
Another 14 MEP hopefuls also submitted their nomination at the offices of the Electoral Commission today.
They were : Claudette Abela Baldacchino, John Attard Montalto, Ruben Attard, Glenn Bedingfield, Maria Camilleri, David Casa, Mary Gauci, Louis Grech, Roberta Metsola Tedesco Triccas, Kirill Micallef Stafrace, Maria Mizzi, Joseph Muscat, Edward Scicluna and Christian Zammit.
Eleven candidates submitted their nomination on Saturday.
The Electoral Commission will continue to receive nominations until Monday.
The list of candidates only becomes official after the expiry of a period reserved for objections. However a spokesman for the Electoral Commission explained today that Mr Lowell could still submit his nomination in view of amendments made last year which provide that people who are under a suspended sentence are not struck pff the electoral register.
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Joe Fenech
May 4th 2009, 16:57
All the best Norman Lowell. Keep battling. You have a worse battle that Le Pen in France to fight. Le Pen, spent over 35 years battling: people called him racist but he fought through and now half of the French (non-immigrant origins) vote for him! On top all the French politician have cloned his speeches. There is a stark difference between realist and racist. Norman Lowell always highlighted the difference and the incompatibility between cultures. Look at Britain! After shooting their mouths off about multiculturalism, now that they're seeing their country sinking, they're promoting the teaching of 'Britishness' as a school subject! From my experience of living in different European countries I can confirm that Norman's more than right. One major thing proves it: in Europe, a European marrying in African is still looked down upon: it's an open secret! Let's stop the hypocrisy and give real politicians and intellectuals like Norman a chance. Now, if we can't deal with openness and reality, then there's something really wrong and weird with the country!
Dr. John Zammit
May 4th 2009, 16:35
Well done Norman and good luck. I am also being persecuted like you because I say the truth.
laurence schembri
May 4th 2009, 13:12
This is all well and good, Norman Lowell has every right to contest the elections. What I find undemocratic is the `right to a vote` taken away from 900+ Europeans living in Malta.
Farcical to say the least.
john micallef
May 4th 2009, 11:03
go ahead norman, i and many others feel that you are telling the truth. as i already tried to express myself on blogs, you are being persecuted because 'int qed tirfes il kallijiet' of most politicians you haven't got national interest first on their agendas. you will surely get thousands of votes in this one.
David Caruana
May 4th 2009, 07:08
If N.Lowell is not allowed to contest the EP elections, it would only confirm that Malta is a fake democracy!
Oscar Cassar
May 3rd 2009, 22:41
It was Norman Lowell who put the problems of immigration in the political agenda four years ago and now the system is making it a point not to make him contest again the MEP’s election. I think that such a decision is a bad direction for the countries political forum, even for those who do not agree fully to his statements.
Charles Sammut
May 3rd 2009, 22:36
Is Norman Lowell considered to be such a threat to the Establishment? Why was he singled out for prosecution when we hear far more extreme language everyday? Do those politicians, who up to a few weeks ago were telling us that everything is under control, resent it so much that Lowell foresaw this problem years ago?
Do certain politicians practice democracy only when it goes their way? That would be a very dangerous way of running the country, especially if they suddenly find themselves on the wrong side of the fence.