The government will hold a public consultation on postponing the local council elections to 2019 to coincide with the European Parliament elections, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici, who is also responsible for local government, said this morning.

The idea was first mentioned by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat as a move to save costs, improve turnout in local council elections and address what he described as “election fatigue”.

It would, however, mean extending the term of a number of councils to seven years, having last been subject to elections in 2012.

The proposal was last month strongly criticised by Opposition leader Simon Busuttil.

This, he said, was not an ordinary controversy but an issue at the heart of democracy. The government was removing the people's right to elect their representatives on the councils. By so doing the government would also be ensuring Labour kept its majority in the councils. This was akin to dictatorships where elections were held at the government's convenience.

But Dr Bonnici in a press conference this morning denied that democracy was being undermined and said there were cases in the past when the term of councils were extended form three to five years. Now, after 2019 all councils would have five year terms, but for that to happen, some councils would for now have a seven-year term. He said the country would save €2m for every round of the elections.

Environmentalists said it would give an advantage to the hunting lobby as the local elections would not be linked to the spring hunting referendum, potentially leading to a lower turnout. 

Dr Bonnici denied that the move had anything to do with the referendum.

elezzjonijietlokali.mjcl@gov.mt

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