“In a healthy democracy, every vote counts. All votes have an equal value. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Malta! We will defend the value of each vote. A vote cast for ADPD-The Green Party is equal in value to those cast in favour of the PLPN.” This was stated by Carmel Cacopardo Chairperson of ADPD – The Green Party in front of the Law Courts Valletta after having, together with party General Secretary Dr Ralph Cassar instituted constitutional proceedings relative to the election results just published. He continued as follows:

“The party has been insisting for quite some time that electoral legislation is discriminatory due to its giving weight to votes cast for the two parliamentary parties and ignoring those cast for others. 

This is the result of two specific measures: one dealing with proportionality and the other dealing with gender balance. Both measures are designed to benefit the PLPN and discriminate against us, the third party, and others. The discrimination we are facing is an integral part of electoral legislation by design.

Early in the afternoon of Monday 28th March 2022 it was announced that the electoral result was adjusted through the addition of two MPs from the list of candidates presented by the PN.  This addition is the result of a proportionality adjustment between the votes obtained at first count by the political parties making it to parliament and the parliamentary seats won. 

When this adjustment was carried out the votes obtained at first count by ADPD-The Green Party amounting to 4747 were ignored. These votes amount to more than the national quota. This discrimination is a devaluation of the democratic process as it gives weight to votes cast in favour of Partit Laburista and Partit Nazzjonalista but ignores completely the votes cast for ADPD.

In addition to this, in the coming days, the final stage of the electoral process will be implemented. After all the bye-elections associated with the general election are concluded the Electoral Commission will assign up to a maximum of twelve additional parliamentary seats to the two parliamentary parties in order to address gender balance in the parliamentary ranks.  This will add to the existing problems of parliamentary representation by further inflating the parliamentary seats of PLPN to the detriment of the rest. The proportionality principle, already very weak will be further eroded.

The Constitutional proceedings deal with all this. We are requesting the Courts to find that there has been a breach of several human rights protected not only in terms of Malta’s Constitution but also in terms of the European Convention of Human Rights. We also point out that the points raised are in breach of the first protocol of the European Convention of Human Rights relative to free and fair elections.

We expect that the Courts identify suitable remedies to address the discrimination which has already taken place when the Partit Nazzjonalista was awarded additional parliamentary seats and the votes obtained by ADPD were ignored. We also seek the Courts’ protection from further discrimination which will occur in the coming days when the provisions of the gender balance corrective mechanism are applied.

Malta’s electoral system is not serving the country well: it has been manipulated repeatedly by the PLPN to serve their own interests. To this end they have also hijacked the Constitutional institutions. It is not only PLPN votes which are important: everyone’s vote is important and requires the utmost respect. This is a campaign to ensure that all votes are acknowledged and represented.”

***

Niddefendu l-valur ta’ kull vot

“F’demokrazija b’saħħita, kull vot jgħodd u l-ebda vot ma jiswa iktar minn vot ieħor. Sfortunatament dan mhux il-kaz f’Malta! Niddefendu l-valur ta’ kull vot.” Dan qalu Carmel Cacopardo Chairperson ta’ ADPD – The Green Party quddiem il-Qorti l-Belt Valletta wara li flimkien mas-Segretarju Ġenerali tal-partit Dr Ralph Cassar ippreżenta kawża kostituzzjonali dwar ir-riżultat elettorali li ġie ppubblikat f’dawn il-ġranet. Huwa kompla hekk:

“Il-partit ilu żmien jilmenta li l-leġiżlazzjoni elettorali hi diskriminatorja fil-konfront tiegħu u dan minħabba li tagħti piż u valur lill-voti mitfugħa favur iż-żewġ partiti li qegħdin fil-Parlament imma tiskarta kompletament il-voti li jkunu mitfugħa favur partiti oħra.

Dan hu riżultat ta’ żewġ miżuri speċifiċi: waħda dwar il-proporzjonalità u l-oħra dwar il-bilanċ tal-ġeneru. It-tnejn jiffavorixxu lill-PLPN u huma diskriminatorji fil-konfront tagħna, it-tielet partit, u kontra oħrajn. Id-diskriminazzjoni li qed niffaċċjaw hi parti integrali mil-liġi elettorali. 

Kmieni waranofsinnhar tat-Tnejn 28 ta’ Marzu 2022 kien imħabbar li r-riżultat elettorali kien aġġustat billi mal-lista tal-membri parlamentari eletti żdiedu tnejn oħra mil-lista elettorali ippreżentata mill-PN. Din iż-żieda saret biex ikun hemm aġġustament għall-proporzjonalità bejn il-voti miksuba mill-partiti parlamentari fl-ewwel għadd tal-voti u s-siġġijiet parlamentari miksuba.

Meta sar dan ġew injorati l-voti miksuba mill-partit ADPD fl-ewwel għadd tal-voti, liema voti kienu jammonta għal 4747, ammont li hu ikbar mill-kwota nazzjonali. Din id-diskriminazzjoni tiżvaluta l-proċess demokratiku u dan billi l-voti tal-Partit Laburista u tal-Partit Nazzjonalista qed jingħataw valur billi jittieħdu in konsiderazzjoni u l-voti ta’ ADPD qed ikunu skartati kompletament.

B’żieda ma dan, il-proċess elettorali hu mistenni li jkompli fil-ġranet li ġejjin u dan billi l-emendi kostituzzjonali tas-sena l-oħra jipprevedu li wara li jkun konkluż il-proċess ta’ bye-elections assoċjati mal-elezzjoni ġenerali, l-Kummissjoni Elettorali talloka mhux iktar minn tnax-il siġġu parlamentari addizzjonali, sitta lil kull naħa biex jonqos l-iżbilanċ tal-ġeneru fil-Parlament. Dan ser ikompli jżid il-problema ta’ rappreżentanza parlamentari billi ser iżid ir-rappreżentanza tal-partiti parlamentari u jkompli jinjora l-bqija. Il-prinċipju tal-proporzjonalità li diġa huwa applikat b’mod dgħajef se jkompli jitnawwar bħala riżultat ta’ dan.

Il-kawża kostituzzjonali hi dwar dan kollu. Qed nitolbu lill-Qorti li issib li hemm ksur ta’ diversi drittijiet  liema drittijiet huma mħarsa kemm mill-kostituzzjoni ta’ Malta kif ukoll mill-Konvenzjoni Ewropeja tad-Drittijiet tal-Bniedem. Hemm ukoll ksur tal-artiklu 3 tal-protokol numru 1 tal-Konvenzjoni Ewropeja dwar id-Drittijiet tal-Bniedem dwar id-dritt ta’ elezzjonijiet ħielsa.

Qegħdin nistennew rimedju kontra d-diskriminazzjoni li seħħet diġa meta l-Partit Nazzjonalista ngħata siġġijiet Parlamentari u aħna b’mod diskriminatorju ma ngħatajniex, kif ukoll protezzjoni mid-diskriminazzjoni addizzjonali li se sseħħ fil-ġranet li ġejjin meta jidħol fis-seħħ il-mekkaniżmu korrettorju dwar il-bilanċ tal-ġeneru.

Is-sistema elettorali Maltija mhiex isservi l-interessi tal-pajjiż imma biss tal-PLPN li kkapparraw ukoll l-istituzzjonijiet. Il-vot ta’ kulħadd għandu valur u jeħtieġ li jkun rispettat, mhux biss dawk tal-PLPN. Inħarsu l-voti kollha.”