The Nationalist Party said today that Justice Minister Owen Bonnici should stop insulting the people by claiming he was holding consultations on whether local council elections should be postponed.

He should also make his intentions clear.

In a reaction to comments given by the minister to Times of Malta, the PN said elections were not struck off in a democracy. Elections were, by definition, the highest form of public consultation and it made no sense to hold a consultation to remove the highest form of consultation.

Dr Bonnici was showing disrespect to the serving councillors and those who wished to serve in local councils by not saying whether or not local elections would be held. No one knew where he stood.

The minister, therefore, should clearly say what the government’s intentions were, the PN said.

In his comments to Times of Malta, Dr Bonnici said postponing local council elections would breach the Local Councils Act that states the next ones are set for 2015.

Though no formal proposal has yet been made, the government has floated the idea of postponing all local elections until 2019, but this would require changing the law.

The idea is to extend their term and hold all the polls on the same day as the European Parliament election.

The government has said that it would discuss the proposal with all stakeholders before taking a final decision.

“If we opt for postponement, there would be the need to amend the Local Councils Act,” Dr Bonnici told this newspaper . The Opposition has said the idea smacks of totalitarianism, while analysts Godfrey Grima, Kenneth Wain and Joseph M. Pirotta told The Sunday Times of Malta that such a move would weaken democracy and make voters feel “duped”.

See Dr Bonnici's comments on video above. More on Times of Malta and the e-paper on timesofmalta.com Premium.