(Adds chief commissioner's reaction)

The Junior College council elections have been won by student organisation Pulse.

The organisation garnered a majority of votes and won the elections for the third consecutive year so the Junior College Students’ Council would consist of seven Pulse representatives.

The organisation said it was disappointed by the claims made by the Studenti Demokristjani Maltin this morning.

“It is quite surprising to read such complaints when SDM had ample time to voice their concerns, if these really existed.

“Instead SDM spent their time playing with the election date and producing funny videos on You-tube which hinted serious differences between students.”

Pulse said it condemned “all the false allegations” by SDM directed at the head of the electoral commission and the commission members.

“These allegations are an evident case of how SDM are once again clinging to their same negative techniques which led them to another loss.

“The electoral commissioner was agreed upon by both organisations and both Pulse and SDM had five representatives on the electoral commission board.”

The SDM representatives were appointed and approved by Pulse members during the KSJC’s annual general meeting after SDM officials instructed SDM members to walk out of the meeting.

However, Pulse believed that SDM should still have equal representation in the electoral commission and voted in favour of the SDM representatives.

“Pulse believes in the democratic rights of students and despite SDM’s withdrawal from a formal agreement reached between the two organisations, Pulse wanted a clean and a fair election.”

Pulse said SDM failed to say that even certain Pulse members who were not allowed to vote due to the reasons SDM mentioned in their statement.

“This was a regulation that SDM knew about and had agreed upon, something which they are supposed to know quite well.”

CHIEF COMMISSIONER'S REACTION

The electoral commission included members of SDM, one of whom in an e-mail thanked the chief commissioner for his patience, saying he thought they had worked well and the result was established in record time.

The procedure followed, the commissioner said, had everyone’s support including SDM’s.

One regulation stated that the campaign had to stop at 3.50 p.m. on Thursday, including on social networks and the media. Anyone who campaigned after this time would have his vote taken away. This practice had also been adopted last year.

Six votes were taken, three belonging to SDM and three to Pulse. One of the SDM votes was a candidate’s and SDM said that because the person concerned was a candidate the rule did not apply.

The commission argued that everyone had to be treated in the same manner.

As for the chief commissioner’s consultations with Pulse, similar consultations had also been carried out with the president of SDM.

See also:

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091212/local/sdm-says-election-process-at-junior-college-was-vitiated