Nazzareno Bonnici has contested elections under the banner Partit tal-Ajkla but proposed new rules may bar him from using the name and emblem.

The draft law regulating political party financing, released last week, will make it mandatory for political parties to register with the Electoral Commission if they are to be listed on the ballot sheet.

But registration comes with a raft of conditions such as having a statute, administrative structures and an obligation to hold accounts and report on donations received.

Mr Bonnici will have to ditch the Tal-Ajkla banner unless his political formation takes on the semblance of a political party. If he reneges on this obligation, Mr Bonnici’s name will next time appear on the ballot sheet in a list with other independent candidates.

The independent title means no reference can be made to the party name and emblem on the ballot sheet.

The new rules will block the one or two-men shows, disguised as parties, which sprout up at election time, most notably the European Parliament election, only to disappear soon afterwards.

But they will also impose an obligation on political formations like Norman Lowell’s Imperium Europa to transform into an organised party structure if candidates are to run under its banner at election time.

The rules proposed in the Bill widely follow the conditions for political party registration in the UK.

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