Opposition deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami said this evening that a large number of officers at the Electoral Office had been replaced by others who were manifestly Labour-leaning. He warned that the Opposition would not tolerate the sort of cleansing which had taken place in the AFM and the police, and the new Chief Electoral Commissioner should be careful that the commission was not used for political ends.

Dr Fenech Adami was speaking asParliament started debating amendments to the Constitution and the General Elections Act.

The Bill was introduced by the Parliamentary Secretary for Justice, Owen Bonnici, who said that persons who were condemned to a suspended jail term will henceforth not lose the right to vote.

The decision applies to all elections.

He said prisoners condemned to an effective jail term of more than a year would continue to be unable to vote, while those serving a sentence of under one year may vote and contest elections.

The novelty of the law was that those condemned to a suspended jail term would henceforth not lose their right to vote.

The amendment. Dr Bonnici said, was in line with European thinking. Indeed, 14 European countries allowed prisoners to vote, whatever the nature of their prison sentence.

The Opposition declared it agreed with the amendment.

Other amendments provide, among other things, that people who know they will be in hospital on polling day may vote a week early. This, Dr Bonnici said, applied especially for people who knew they would be operated on, or would give birth, on polling day.

Shadow minister Beppe Fenech Adami said that while the Opposition generally agreed with the amendments, it disagreed that early voting in hospitals would be on the Thursday before polling day, since this was the last day of the electoral campaign, a day of tension which also involved the movement of people. Having some people vote on this day was therefore not good from a logistical point of view for the authorities. It also created new problems for political parties who needed to keep an eye on the voting process, while concluding their campaigns.

He said he saw no reason why such voting could not take place on Friday, the day before election day proper.

For the same reason, Dr Fenech Adami said, the Opposition also felt that people in Old People's Homes should vote on the day before polling day proper and not a week earlier when the electoral campaign was in full swing, as the Bill proposed.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION

Turning to other aspects, Dr Fenech Adami noted that the Chief Electoral Commissioner was recently replaced. The Opposition had opposed the appointment of the new commissioner, Joseph Church.

He said the government had made political appointments throughout the civil service, including the police force. The appointment of the new Police Commissioner had led to the replacement of many officers by others who were Labour-leaning. The same had happened in the army, to the detriment of people who had service loyally after being appointed on the basis of their competence.

The cleansing in the police and the AFM must not take place in the Electoral Commission, Dr Fenech Adami warned.

It was well known that a number of transfers took place in the past weeks and months. Several long-serving people had been moved elsewhere and substituted by people who manifestly supported the Labour Party.

His warning to the government and the Chief Electoral Commission was: Hands off the Electoral Commission, Dr Fenech Adami said.

"Do not even think you can again use the Electoral Commission for your political ends." 

Dr Fenech Adami said he would have thought that those sad times were past. Everyone remembered how in the past, the Electoral Commission drew electoral boundaries which led the country to distress. The boundaries now were not as relevant as before, but the powers of the commission were enormous and if used badly, the consequences would be very serious for democracy.

With the country about to introduce e-ID cards, it would be irresponsible of the Electoral Commission to try to deny the right to vote to thousands of people currently listed on the Electoral Register.

Dr Fenech Adami said that he was not imputing wrongdoing by the Chief Electoral Commissioner, but the commissioner needed to be wary of the people around him, particularly those moved to the office recently, and who may give advice which may lead to an erosion of democracy.

PARLIAMENTARY MAJORITY

Dr Fenech Adami also pointed out that the government parliamentary majority of nine should have been seven, but mistakes were made in the counting process in the eighth and thirteenth districts.

Those were mistakes which everyone acknowledged.

The PN had filed a court case to remedy the injustice. Reducing the government majority to seven would not cause problems to the government. 18 sittings had been held in court so far for the PN to get what it deserved and so that the composition of the House would truly reflect the will of the people.

The Labour Party, instead of opposition, should join the PN, in the interests of justice, to persuade all concerned that a mistake had been made and should be corrected in the interests of proportional representation, Dr Fenech Adami said.

LABOUR MP REGRETS TONE OF SPEECH

Labour MP Michael Falzon regretted the tone of Dr Fenech Adami's speech and said that his comments showed disrespect even to the PN-nominated members of the Electoral Commission. He rejected the claims made by Dr Fenech Adami and said it was the practice in the Civil Service that newly-promoted civil servants were moved.

As to the e-IDs, it was worth noting that the former government had, shamefully, let Identity Cards expire for many years, he said, adding that it was not right for anyone who was not eligible to continue to appear on the Electoral Register.

He also insisted that proportional representation was being practised in the House, a far cry in the past when the PN had a five-seat majority which was not proportional. 

Parliamentary Secretary Bonnici said Dr Fenech Adami should not continue to attack the institutions, which the people had confidence in.

He also wondered how the Opposition could attack Mr Church, who was known for his honesty and integrity. He should not be discouraged by comments such as those by Dr Fenech Adami and should ensure that the law and the Constitution were observed.

4,891 CAME TO MALTA TO VOTE

Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella told Dr Fenech Adami in reply to a parliamentary question that 4,891 used Air Malta special low cost flights to come to Malta to vote at the last general election. The biggest number, 2126, flew in from London.

 

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