The government’s plans to postpone the local council elections is “tampering with democracy to appease the hunting lobby”, according to an environmental group.
Mark Sultana, from Birdlife, yesterday claimed the proposal to shift the elections was the result of pressure from the hunters’ federation, FKNK, and was aimed at swinging the result of the spring hunting referendum in their favour.
“The FKNK has bullied and harassed both parties when in government for decades but tampering with Maltese democracy to appease them is surely something most voters will strongly object to,” he said, urging the government to hold the council vote in tandem with the referendum.
Earlier this year the government unveiled plans to postpone the next round of local council elections till 2019. The Justice Ministry this week announced a public consultation process on the proposed postponement.
Local council elections were meant to be held in March but Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the move (to postpone them) would save money as well as give voters a break from “electoral fatigue”.
Contacted for a reaction to Birdlife’s comments, a spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister declined to react to the allegations of bullying. He said the government had already given its rationale for the postponement and stood by what it had said.
Asked whether the move would benefit the hunters, the spokesman replied: “The local council laws and the referendum laws are totally different and we will continue to respect both of them fully.”
Mr Sultana, however, insisted the move was meant to shoot down any chance of the referendum being held together with the local council vote, an electoral exercise which, although possibly attracting fewer voters than a general election, still enjoyed a sizable turnout.
“It is absolutely clear the FKNK has come to the conclusion that separating local council elections from the referendum will result in a lower turnout, possibly making the referendum result invalid,” he said.
FKNK general secretary Lino Farrugia scoffed at the allegations that hunters had bullied the government, saying the ornithological group was “mixing up issues”.
Asked to react to claims that postponing the vote worked in the hunters’ favour, Mr Farrugia said the referendum would have been a standalone vote regardless of the move.
“The referendum process has started and it stipulates that the vote will not happen before April. So it couldn’t have coincided with the local council elections in March anyway. Birdlife is just mixing things up,” he said.
The referendum process is halfway through the first Constitutional Court phase, with objections in the process of being filed by the hunting lobby. Once this stage is over, the courts will hear counter-arguments and eventually set a hearing to decide on whether the vote can be held.
Objections can only be made on a point of law and, once the green light is given, the President will have to set a date for a referendum that would be between three and six months from the court decision.