Electoral Commission ‘is always prepared’

The Electoral Commission is “always prepared” and has just triggered preparations for the local council polls, so it has everything in place if a general election is called.

A spokesman said it was not prudent to divulge whether the commission had been placed on standby but said its members were following the developments like everyone else.

“We are always prepared and we don’t work in panic station mode. Like we did with the referendum and in other occasions, we always try to be prepared, like boy scouts,” the spokesman added.

Local council elections are planned to be held in 34 localities in March, so there is a lot of preparation work already under way, even though a general election would require fresh preparations.

The spokesman said that if an election were to be held in the coming few months it was likely to be coupled with the local council election to cut costs. This could entail, however, postponing the council elections, as had happened with the European Parliament elections in June 2009.

Only yesterday, the commission issued a call for applications for those interested in becoming assistant commissioners. If an election was called, new calls must be issued and more people would need to be recruited, the spokesman added.

If the President dissolves Parliament, the election date must be set at the earliest 33 days from the announcement and not later than three months.