Louis Galea should ensure fair electoral reform – AD
Speaking about parliament’s select committee on electoral law reform, Alternattiva Demokratika - The Green Party said it was disappointed at the fact that in one and a half years the only thing the select committee seems to have agreed upon with regards to the reform on the electoral system is to widen the threshold for expenditure by candidates at elections.
Michael Briguglio, AD Chairperson, asked: “Is this being done to ensure that PN and PL candidates who broke the law by exceeding expenditure limits, could come off scot-free? We augur that Louis Galea will not be remembered for chairing a select committee that only managed to cover up for such candidates. We strongly urge Galea to ensure that before he leaves for the Court of Auditors, the electoral law is changed so that the number of votes are reflected proportionately for all political parties as regards the number of seats, and not only for PL and PN, as the situation scandalously is at the moment.”
An AD delegation, comprising Michael Briguglio, Ralph Cassar, Arnold Cassola and Carmel Cacopardo, met Louis Galea last week to discuss issues relating to the select committee as well as Dr Galea’s nomination to the EU Court of Auditors.
AD is proposing a double threshold for electoral reform, with a district quota of 16.6% that would allow an individual to be elected on her/his own steam, and a national quota with a threshold of two quotas for a party to be represented in parliament.
“This system is similar to that of highly developed democracies such as Germany. AD is proposing a fair balance between democratic representation of voters and functional governance. We are for true proportional representation for all citizens, where each and every vote counts the same. Unlike PN and PL which work as a duopoly that excludes others from the electoral process, AD is putting forward responsible proposals,” Briguglio said.
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