Opposition to the government’s plan to postpone council elections to 2019 “to save money”, ease “election fatigue” and improve election turnout, has forced it to back down half way.

In what the government is describing as a “compromise” solution, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici has announced that the 2015 local elections will go ahead as planned, together with the referendum on spring hunting, if allowed, but those due in 2017 will be postponed till 2019.

According to the minister, the “compromise” solution emerged from a public consultation process. But the only other political party represented in Parliament has apparently been left out of the equation.

Yet, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said there has been a convergence of ideas. The government should stop riding roughshod over the Opposition and check its political arrogance, a trait Muscat is showing in abundance since his party won the 2013 general election.

There may be arguments for and against the three reasons given by the government for wanting to postpone the local council elections but, clearly, as in other matters, such as in the cash-for-passports scheme, it went about the exercise in the wrong way.

The justice minister said the government’s aim was for the term of the councils to be extended to five years from the current four and for the elections to coincide with the European Parliament elections. There ought to be nothing wrong in this so long as there is agreement with the Opposition.

However, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said he was not consulted about the “compromise solution”, a matter that ought to worry all those who have parliamentary democracy at heart. How can the Prime Minister speak of a convergence of ideas when the Opposition party disagreed in principle with the postponement of the elections?

Dr Busuttil had made it clear there could be no compromise on the basic democratic principle of holding elections. His party has now welcomed the government’s decision to hold the next round as scheduled. The elections were mandated by law and, in trying to postpone the elections, seen by many as a manoeuvre to help out the hunters, the Prime Minister was being divisive.

Riding roughshod over the Opposition runs diametrically contrary to what the Labour leader promised in his general election campaign. The PN’s stand that the 2015 and 2017 elections should go ahead as planned and that there should then be a consultation process to see how local councils could be strengthened made sense. The people’s rights ought not to be tampered with in this manner.

Malta has no problem with turnouts in council elections. Standing at an average of 70 per cent, it is far from being low. Yet, the Prime Minister had given this as one of the three reasons for proposing to postpone the council elections.

This newspaper has already described the first reason given, that to save money, as preposterous, and it is, not because it is not wise to save money but because the government should first lead by example. As to election fatigue, what would the Prime Minister say if the country were to follow Switzerland’s regular referendum system?

While there may be a point in this reason, it was not strong enough to justify any postponement of the next scheduled council elections. Many agree that common sense has prevailed. Hopefully, the government will desist from taking moves that go against democratic principles.