Norman Lowell places nomination for MEP elections
Imperium Europa party leader Norman Lowell is among the list of candidates who submitted his nomination for the European Parliament elections to be held next month.
His name is included in the list of nominations issued yesterday evening by the Electoral Commission. Mr Lowell was convicted last year 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.
According to the Constitution, a person is disqualified from contesting elections "if he is serving a sentence of imprisonment exceeding 12 months... or is under such a sentence of imprisonment the execution of which has been suspended".
As a result, Mr Lowell is not qualified to take part in the euro parliamentary elections.
An appeal from the sentence was dismissed last October after it was found that his fundamental human rights had not been violated by a judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeal and a Constitutional application where Mr Lowell argued that he was denied the right to a fair hearing by the appeals court was eventually dismissed.
Mr Lowell had then requested the First Hall of the Civil Court to hear and decide the constitutional application with urgency as he wished to contest the European Parliamentary elections. Mr Lowell also contested the European Parliament elections in 2004, winning 1,603 votes.
Apart from Mr Lowell, the list of candidates who placed their nomination yesterday, as announced by the Electoral Commission, includes Claudette Abela Baldacchino, John Attard Montalto, Ruben Attard, Glenn Bedingfield, Maria Dolores Camilleri, David Casa, Mary Gauci, Louis Grech, Roberta Metsola Tedesco Triccas, Kirill Micallef Stafrace, Maria Mizzi, Joseph Muscat, Edward Scicluna and Christian Joseph Zammit.
The Electoral Commission will continue to receive nominations until today.
The list of candidates only becomes official after the expiry of a period reserved for objections passes.
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jake brincat
May 11th 2009, 20:12
norman please keep try to get us out of this tragedy....... we are behind you....... pls keep it up
Roderick Cristina
May 5th 2009, 09:13
Norman Lowell has been trying to make people aware of the Immigration problem more than 10 years ago for sure. In a time when everyone cared less about this problem as maybe we were receiving 10/15 immigrants every now and than.Today we're having boats of 200 and more and everyone is aware about this problem. I guess Mr Lowell have every right to remain on the list and he should have all the support needed from the Maltese public.In a short time not just Malta but the european union will be controlled by the Muslim and African people,and than we see what the gizwiti and all those who care about these people will have to say! We have to stand up against this problem and fight for our country!
Ramon Casha
May 5th 2009, 06:30
We live in a country that has laws, and consequences for breaking them. Freedom of speech is not absolute - for instance, it does not cover one person telling another to commit a crime, or to libel another person. Lowell committed a crime and one of the consequences of that is that his candidature is invalid.
Gerry Cowie
May 4th 2009, 21:33
Here's hoping that apart from freedom of speech all candidates will also support the right to human life from conception to natural death.
I always ask any political candidates who canvas for my vote whether or not they support the right to life - pro life. If not then I turn them away.
William Attard McCarthy
May 4th 2009, 19:51
Norman Lowell, a man who has been ridiculed man a time for his somewhat wayward, eccentric and sometimes extreme speeches.... ...but the course of time has shown that the man has hit the nail on its head on quite a few matters. Yes, the Govt should not in any way hinder our constitution's Freedom of Speech Act, and yes, keep this man on the list. If yes, I'm sure we shall all be surprised by the outcome....
v mercieca
May 4th 2009, 19:21
I too agree that this is supposed to be a free country and we should have freedom of speech.
I too hope that Mr Lowell will remain on the list.
Ronnie Gauci
May 4th 2009, 17:33
I hope Mr. Lowell will remain on the list, we live in a country where there is freedom of speech, or not?