Eligible Maltese nationals living abroad will be able to take a cheap Air Malta flight to vote in the spring hunting referendum on April 11, Times of Malta has learnt.
Although the Office of the Prime Minister would not comment when asked about the matter, sources close to the national airline said preparations for the “usual” cheap flight scheme had already started.
“We have already been informed about the scheme and we are waiting for the government to officially announce its decision to set up the specific booking service. All is prepared,” the sources said when contacted.
When Chief Electoral Commissioner Joseph Church was asked about the cheap flights offer earlier this week he directed this newspaper to the Office of the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman has yet to reply to the questions put by Times of Malta.
We are waiting for the government to officially announce its decision to set up the booking service. All is prepared
Sources said Labour Party officials were contacting sympathetic voters abroad informally advising them about the cheap flights and encouraging them to make reservations so they would be among the first to qualify once the scheme was officially launched. Asked whether this was the case, the Labour Party did not reply.
On the other hand, a Nationalist Party official said that although the party was expecting the scheme to be announced it had not yet received any information from the government.
For the 2013 election and the MEP elections last year, flights were offered at €35 inclusive of taxes. Such schemes are normally run on first-come-first-served basis.
About 5,000 eligible voters took advantage of the cheap flight option in the last election, costing taxpayers about €1 million. Although Air Malta operates the cheaper flights, it is the government that forks out the difference in price.
For years, it has been suggested that voting take place in Maltese embassies abroad or through the post, as happens in almost all democratic countries around the world. However, successive governments have preferred the cheap flights offer option.