Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil hailed the court decision on the electoral result as “historic”, saying the government and the Electoral Commission should ensure the PN has another two members in Parliament without further delay.

He said justice had been done not only with the PN but also with the electorate, whose wishes had not been met because of an erroneous decision by the Electoral Commission. Proportionality in Parliament should now reflect the electoral result, Dr Busuttil added.

The PN has been arguing that candidates Claudette Buttigieg (née Pace) and Frederick Azzopardi failed to be elected from the eighth and 13th districts respectively due to errors in the counting process.

This is what the people wanted and, in a democracy, the wishes of the electorate should always be respected

They only managed to make it to the House thanks to a legal provision guaranteeing proportionality in Parliament.

“This is not only a win for the Nationalist Party but also a win that reflects the democratic wishes of the electorate as expressed in the last elections,” Dr Busuttil said.

Edwin Vassallo. Photo: Facebook

Quoting the court’s decision that “there is no doubt that the result of the 2013 general election does not faithfully reflect in Parliament the way the electorate voted” Dr Busuttil said that “the injustice with the PN will continue for each and every day in which its number of deputies are not increased by two”.

He said the court made it clear that Labour should have seven and not nine more seats in Parliament. “We now expect the Electoral Commission to immedietly kick-start the process to elect two new Nationalist MPs to Parliament.

“The PN has already had to work in Parliament with the disadvantage of two fewer MPs for the past two years. We now expect the court’s decision to be respected by everyone. This is all about democracy, after all,” Dr Busuttil said.

Asked about the government’s announcement that it would appeal, Dr Busuttil said that although the PN would respect the right given at law for an appeal, it also expected everyone to respect the rules of democracy.

Peter Micallef. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

“One can play for time to delay what the court has decided but democracy is not a game and should be fully respected by all those who believe in it,” he said.

He would not speculate who the two new MPs could be and said there was a process that had to be set in motion by the Electoral Commission. However, he noted that the court had also stated how the two new MPs should be elected and within which time frame.

The court gave the Electoral Commission a month to elect the two PN candidates who, irrespective of the districts which they contested, got the highest number of votes but were not elected.

“This is what the people wanted and, in a democracy, the wishes of the electorate should always be respected. At least, that is what the PN always believed in,” Dr Busuttil said.

The indications are that former MPs Edwin Vassallo and Peter Micallef are the best placed two PN candidates to make it to Parliament if the court decision is implemented.

The government said in a statement last night it had a right to appeal adding that it was normal practice that a first court sentence cannot be executed until an appeal was decided.