Alternattiva Demokratika has called for the immediate reinstatement in the Electoral Register of 960 EU citizens who had previously been eligible to vote in the European Parliament elections in Malta but have now been struck off..
Party leader Arnold Cassola said these people had been on the European electoral register from April 2004 till October 2008.
He said that according to law, before the Electoral Commission deleted the registration of electors from the register, it had to send written notice to the individual concerned for him/her to give the necessary information or proof that she/he has a right to vote.
While the Electoral Commission had issued a public notice calling on EU citizens in Malta to register if they wished to vote in Malta, it had not told those who were already on the register to re-apply.
He said AD was assuming that this was an unintentional oversight and was asking the Electoral Commission to reinsert these people in the register.
Comments
Maltese nationals residing in other EU countries have the right to vote locally in the coming EP elections, and many Maltese will indeed be exercising this right. Why are non-Maltese EU citizens residing in Malta having their legal right snatched away from them? The chauvinist, narrow-minded argument that foreigners have no business in Maltese politics and socio-political discourse doesn't hold, because this is a European (as opposed to national) election, taking place in a community of 27 countries - a community built on 4 fundamental freedoms, including freedom of movement and freedom of establishment.
In respect of the steadfast consistency and manifest credibility of Alternattiva Demokratika --The Green Party vis-à-vis the civil rights of non-Maltese EU citizens, see:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081001/letters/non-maltese-eu-citizens-discrimination
Oisin Jones-Dillon
Ignorance of the law is no excuse AD.