Updated - Referendum: PM reacts sharply to JPO 'pettiness' jibe

LAST UPDATED 4.46 p.m. -

The prime minister today reacted sharply to a remark by Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando that the PN was being “petty” in its argumentation about why 2,800 young people have been denied the right to vote in the upcoming divorce referendum.

The young people will not be able to vote on May 28 because they turned 18 after the September 30 cutoff date for the publication of the October electoral register. The referendum will be based on the October electoral register since the President's writ for the holding of the referendum was issued on March 30. The cut off date for the April register is March 31.

It had been suggested that the Electoral Commission could have delayed the publication of the writ by a few days so that the April register would apply.

"To argue about hiding the President's writ for the holding of the referendum as petty means we are living in different planets," Dr Gonzi said.

Indeed, he said, if it was possible for the Commission to delay publication of the writ, he would legislate for such things not to take place.

In his comments, pro-divorce Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando warned against “petty” argumentation about why 2,800 young people have been denied the right to vote in the upcoming divorce referendum.

Referring to a speech given by Dr Gonzi yesterday, Dr Pullicino Orlando said the Prime Minister had “confirmed” that the more recent electoral register could have been used.

Not allowing 2,800 young voters to make their voice heard on this important issue could influence the way these people would vote at the election in two years’ time, Dr Pullicino Orlando said.

“Have we considered the difficulties and unnecessary expense that could have been avoided? Hundreds of people will have died since October. Many others will have changed their residence. Hundreds will have changed their surnames due to marriage,” he added.

“These are complications that we are now saying we did not avoid for a reason that many will view as being petty.”

Dr Gonzi yesterday said that If the Labour Party had the “moral courage” to admit it made a mistake, the Nationalist Party would have helped find a solution to enable the young people to vote.

“There were solutions and we would have participated in these solutions, but (Labour leader Joseph Muscat) did not have the moral courage to admit his mistake,” the PN leader said, accusing his Labour counterpart of “blatant manipulation”.

Last week the electoral commission decided it would base the upcoming referendum on the October 2010 electoral register instead of the one that will be published in mid-April.

The commission had been discussing the possibility of postponing the publication of the President’s writ to allow time for the new electoral register to be published. At first it had legal advice saying that nothing in the law prevented this from being done but law professor Ian Refalo later advised against this move, saying it would be wiser to publish the writ immediately according to the practice, so as not to give the impression of partiality. Having been issued by the country’s President, publication should not be delayed, he advised.

Dr Gonzi yesterday appeared scandalised at the fact that the Labour Party wanted to delay the publication of the writ to prevent this problem. He said the Labour Party had been advised against this “manoeuvre” but insisted on pushing forward instead of seeking other solutions.

“Are these the values that we want to pass on to our younger generation? How to play around with laws to escape admitting a mistake and put the blame on someone else?”

The government had simply followed the terms of the motion which Dr Muscat had written, was signed by all his MPs and later approved in Parliament. If there was something wrong with the timing, Dr Muscat should have noticed it before.

“Even the biggest (political) amateur wouldn’t have been so hard-headed. All he had to do was change the motion and include all the young people.”

Instead, Dr Muscat’s solution was to keep the President’s writ “in a drawer” until deciding to act upon it on the ideal date.

In his reaction today, Dr Gonzi said strict observance of the electoral law was very important and it was scandalous that playing about was being suggested. Dr Muscat had proposed the timetable for the holding of the referendum, and he could have easily moved an amendment to his resolution, but he had not, Dr Muscat said.

Dr Gonzi also stressed that the two political parties never agreed to postpone publication of the writ.

See Dr Gonzi's comments on video above.

LABOUR PARTY STATEMENT

Meanwhile, the PL said the Prime Minister was ignoring a crucial point. It said that both the PN representative to the Electoral Commission as well as the electoral commissioners nominated by him had agreed with the roadmap proposed by the PL.

According to the commission's legal adviser, this solution would have been legitimate and given the right to vote to these young people. It appeared, however, that the PM had made other calculations, the PL said and Dr Gonzi had therefore ordered a withdrawal from the agreement.

Meanwhile, both parties have produced YouTube videos to explain what happened and give their version of events, targeting the young people who will not be able to vote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umMZLBDgXkE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOop5SWyud4