Breaking Down The Key Facts About ADPD’s Court Case Which It Hopes Will Get Green MPs Elected To Parliament
ADPD is trying to shake up Malta’s electoral system through a constitutional court case challenging the powers that be. It’s a long shot that the green party hopes will result in them finally electing a MP to Parliament, but what does it mean?
The case, presented by ADPD Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo and Secretary General Ralph Cassar, argues that Malta’s electoral law discriminates against third parties.
ADPD noted that it received a total of 4,747 first-count votes, which is higher than the district quota necessary for a candidate to get elected to Parliament.
However, when a mechanism kicked in after the initial electoral process to ensure Parliament’s composition is proportionate to the final result, it resulted in the election of two PN candidates, Toni Bezzina and Ian Vassallo Hagi.
Bezzina and Vassallo Hagi were the two PN candidates who received the most votes but weren’t elected at the end of the initial electoral process.
ADPD is arguing that this proportionality mechanism goes against Article 45 of Malta’s Constitution, which states that “no law shall make any provision that is discriminatory either of itself or in its effect”.
Ian Vassallo Hagi (left) and Toni Bezzina (right)
Moreover, ADPD has warned that the gender corrective mechanism, which is set to give PL and PN six more women MPs each after the casual elections, discriminates against third parties.
This is due to the fact that the law was written in such a way that it only allows the gender corrective mechanism to kick in if two parties (ie PL and PN) are elected to Parliament.
In the scenario of ADPD winning the constitutional case by the end of this week and, therefore, allowing them to have a seat in parliament, the mechanism will automatically become redundant.
It would also be the first time since 1966 that a party other than PN and PL were elected to Parliament on their own steam. Partit Demokratiku had won two seats in the 2017 general election, however, this was only after the party ran their candidates on the PN ballot sheet.
However, this scenario is highly unlikely at the time being, despite the general urgent nature of constitutional court case, as there has been no indication of when the first sitting will be.
Carmel Cacopardo (left) and Ralph Cassar (right)
If the courts do rule in favour of ADPD, it will also be the largest sign of distrust that the judiciary branch of government has shown in the legislative in recent Maltese history.
The highest courts in the land would basically be warning Parliament that it had passed legislation that went against the same Constitution they swore an oath to defend, and this in the interest of their own political parties.
It would likely trigger a constitutional crisis, force a change in Malta’s electoral laws to make it easier for third parties to get elected to Parliament, and herald the start of a new kind of relationship between the judiciary and the legislative.
Is the country ready for such a radical shift in its political landscape?
What do you make of ADPD’s case?
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