Il-Kollettiv Launches Campaign for Electoral Reform
Il-Kollettiv has launched a campaign for a reform of the electoral system to ensure a truly representative democracy. We are collecting signatures from the public via an online petition hosted on the site of the Maltese Parliament, calling for the immediate opening of a consultation process with the aim of carrying out the reform within this legislature.
MT VERSION HERE
Through this petition, Il-Kollettiv seeks to give a representation to the 143,028 voters who chose to vote for indepedent and smaller parties – or to abstain – in the last European Parliament elections held on the 8th June. These amount to 38.6% of the electorate; out of these, 12.7% voted for independent or smaller candidates.
Around 13% of the electorate voted for independent candidates: the equivalent of 10 seats in a 79-seat Parliament.
This confirms how the Maltese voter’s profile is changing as time goes by, and how there are shifts in opinion from one election to the other. However, despite these shifts in the electorate’s preferences, the electoral law hasn’t changed: under the current system, candidates require 16.7% of the district vote to be elected.
Il-Kollettiv deputy Secretary Cyrus Engerer, the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Social Wellbeing Claire Azzopardi Lane and activist Omar Rababah have presented the petition on behalf of the group.
“A democracy is only strong when it represents the smaller voices, and not only at election time. An analysis of the votes achieved by the independent and smaller parties will show that, at 12.7%, it will equate to 10 of the 79 seats in national Parliament. In reality, however, the present system works in favour of the two big parties, and this means that no independent or third party will ever be elected.”
“At every election, various representatives of the two major parties insist that voting for a smaller party is equal to wasting your vote. After 143,028 voters chose not to vote for either government or opposition parties, it’s high time that they are given a fair representation in our democracy. Through this petition, the public has the chance to show that it wants to be represented in the running of the country.”
The petition calls on the House of Representatives to:
1. Immediately and during this legislature, launch a wide-ranging consultation process on the electoral system;
2. Discuss, as a matter of principle, the introduction of a national threshold that guarantees a full representation of the Maltese electorate;
3. Initiate the full process leading to an electoral reform, which presents a fairer system as from the next general elections.
The public can access and sign the petition in Maltese or in English. You will then receive an email asking you to verify it by clicking a link. Make sure you click the link in this email so that your signature is included officially.
Individuals and groups who would like to take part in this campaign can do so by emailing il-Kollettiv on kollettiv@gmail.com.
