Three-way contest for KSU elections

Two more parties have joined the fray for the upcoming elections of the University Students’ Council (KSU), making it a three-way contest that will heat things up on campus in the coming weeks.

Social democrats, Pulse, which is usually successful in Junior College elections but rarely at University level, was the first team to announce its candidates last week.

Their rivals SDM, the Christian-democrats that have consistently won KSU elections for years, on Monday unveiled their own list of candidates.

A new liberal movement was also launched on Monday, fielding five candidates and headed by Mark Camilleri, the student editor who found himself in court after publishing an explicit short story on the student newspaper Realtà. The Moviment Liberali said it would ensure “basic values of transparency, democracy and civil rights”.

The team hopes to lobby the government and the University authorities to improve the parking problem through a multi-storey car park but also committed itself to joining the fight against censorship, extending library hours and expanding the literature available in the library.

They will also seek to increase the use of Maltese at the University and give opportunities for students to express their talents as well as reducing the presence of companies during Freshers’ Week.

SDM, which is fielding 11 candidates, including Stefan Balzan for the role of president, is focusing on its wealth of experience at running KSU.

The team said the SDM-led council of last year had completed its electoral programme and more. It said it would release this year’s manifesto tomorrow but would focus on getting closer to students.

SDM urged students to attend the annual general meeting today and to make their voices heard during the election.

Pulse has blamed SDM for not accepting changes to the electoral system. Pulse had presented amendments to address “previously-raised” concerns such as the low turnout witnessed every year.