Robin Cook, ex-British foreign minister and now Leader of the House,
will be receiving a letter from Harry Vassallo, chairman of Alternattiva
Demokratika. It is written on behalf of Arnold Cassola, the party's
spokesman on European Union affairs. Dr Cassola also happens to be the
elected general secretary of the Federation of European Green parties,
an active group in the emerging New Europe.
The Labour Party has filed an application in court questioning Dr
Cassola's right to exercise his right to vote at the forthcoming general
election. His case will be heard in seven weeks' time, a few days, many
are concluding, before the referendum.
Not surprisingly, secretary generals of European political parties
are up in arms about what they describe as an "attempt to deprive
(him) of his voting right on the grounds that he has to spend quite a
time away from Malta in order to fulfil his political mandate... It
would be preposterous, absurd and totally unacceptable if the
authorities in our countries tried to withdraw on such grounds our
fundamental right to vote and to participate in elections".
A voter in Malta has to be resident in Malta for at least six months
in the 18 months before the publication of an electoral register. It was
on this account that the Labour Party filed its application to strike Dr
Cassola off the electoral register. There is a caveat, here. The
government was aware of the anomaly, which was why it proposed to
parliament that the entrenched constitutional clause be revisited and
amended. During the debate the point was made that that there are
Maltese people on official work abroad who cannot meet this
constitutional requirement.
It was absurd, therefore, to discount them and to strike them off the
electoral register for a reason that was democratically fragile, at
best; hugely undemocratic, at worst. The framers of the constitution may
have had their reason for entrenching such a clause at the time. Given
the increased overseas commitments of Malta's citizens, that reason is
no longer valid.
To alter the entrenched clause, the parliamentary vote had to be one
of two-thirds in favour. With the Labour Party voting against, the
amendment was not carried. It has, however, left the onus for this
democratic deficit at the feet of the Labour Party. The situation has
been recognised abroad.
It led the Greens Group co-president, Dany Cohn-Bendit, to state in
very strong terms that: "In this tolerant Europe, there is no place
for anti-democratic and intolerant politicians, such as the present
leadership of the Malta Labour Party... who resort to squalid and base
means to try to get rid of their political adversaries". This is a
powerful accusation that will do little for the Labour Party's stock in
Europe. We presume that if Labour wishes to promote its European
credentials with the Europeans who matter, it has some major
fence-mending to do. It is difficult to persuade Europeans that you are
European Maltese or a Maltese European if you ignore European
fundamentals.
Having said all this, there are many others in Dr Cassola's
situation. If Alternattiva wishes to finish its work, it should provide
its European friends in the Green parties with more names of people
whose right to vote is presently curtailed for the same reason as their
spokesman for European affairs.