Democracy – Instruction Manual

Bhadaru (127) walked 4km to vote in Himachal Pradesh

As the expat community in Luxembourg (and not only) awaits with bated breath for the announcement that bookings on the “special flight” are open – in order to begin the scramble for the rare weekend home – citizens of other countries who currently reside in the Duchy approach the MEP elections with relative calm.

Malta seems to be the only democracy with special needs. In India, a man reported to be 127 years old walked 4 km to get to the polling booth in Himachal Pradesh. Bhadaru (who claims to be 150 years old) has had his measure of walking for democracy:

“When Mahtama Gandhi came to Shimla, I along with some other village folks trekked 60 kilometers to the city to get a glimpse of him. But they killed him later.’’

Wasn’t me

From Malta, 9 Thermidor:

The decision to strike off 900+ voters has been reversed. The Electoral Commission has an explanation:

The Commission recalled that it had issued a notice inviting non-Maltese EU nationals who wished to vote in Malta to complete the required form. In September, the Electoral Commission’s secretary had a meeting with Julian Vassallo, head of the European Parliament office in Malta, who was given a copy of the notice before its publication. He had not objected to it.

It was in this context that the commission gave the go ahead for the publication of the register.

And yet, the European Parliament Elections Act mentions no European Parliament Office taking decisions on the electoral process. The deserved reply:

In a reaction, Dr Vassallo welcomed the Electoral Commission’s decision but said the commission had completely misrepresented the discussion that was held in September. At the time, he said, his Office had complained that non-Maltese EU citizens who had come to Malta since 2004 were not given enough time to apply to be part of the electoral register. He criticised the fact that the commission was ‘trying to shift the blame’ on the EP office instead of having the humility to admit its own mistakes.

Which amendment is that?

From Malta, 9 Thermidor:

The Electoral Commission decided that Norman Lowell, convicted of racial hatred and sentenced to a two-year jail sentence suspended for four years, is eligible to stand for the EP election:

An Electoral Commission spokesman confirmed that Mr Lowell could stand for the June 6 election and said that the 2007 amendments to the electoral law made it possible for people who were handed down a suspended sentence to be eligible to vote.

Once your name appeared on the electoral register, you were also eligible to contest the election, he added.

The Times erroneously reported yesterday that Mr Lowell is not qualified to take part in the euro parliamentary elections.

That’s when my crap detector went off. In none of the elections held in Malta — general, local and European — are qualifications for voting the same as qualifications for candidature. Which is why in the Constitution, the Local Councils Act and the European Parliament Elections Act these matters are covered by different sections of the law. Thus, for example, members of the Electoral Commission itself are obviously not allowed to stand for election while (obviously) enjoying the right to vote.

Then I dug into whatever legal amendments were enacted in 2007. And, indeed, I did find that Act XXI of 2007 at section 5 amends the Constitution so that a suspended sentence (as opposed to an executed sentence) is no longer a disqualification for standing for election.

There’s only one problem though. The Constitution regulates general elections. For the European Parliament election you’d have to refer to the European Parliament Elections Act which, as I pointed out elsewhere, at section 19(1) still states:

Without prejudice to the provisions of the Act, no person shall be qualified to stand for election as a member of the European Parliament or, if elected, to remain a member thereof if, whether in Malta or in any other Member State -
[...]

(e) he is serving a sentence of imprisonment (by whatever name called) exceeding twelve months imposed on him by a court in a Member State or is under such a sentence of imprisonment the execution of which has been suspended;

The relevant section has not been amended either in 2007 or at any time since the law was enacted. Meaning that a suspended prison sentence, while not disqualifying you from being a candidate in the general election, does not allow you to stand in a European Parliament election.

Now, I’m not a lawyer and I only have access to stuff that’s online. It would be helpful if the Times journalist were to press the Electoral Commission spokesman to quote which was the amendment in question. But you can’t expect a Maltese journalist to show some curiosity and dig a little deeper, can you?

I can’t say I’m terribly unhappy at the probable consequence of this: Norman Lowell taking votes from National Action. But if the law indeed prohibts Lowell to run, it’s truly appalling that honest, law-abiding citizens get struck off the electoral register while, when it comes to candidature, where the criteria should be tighter, a convicted criminal can stand for election.