On TVM’s show Xtra hosted by Saviour Balzan, President Spiteri Debono said Malta’s electoral laws must be reformed to make space for small parties, otherwise, apathy within the electorate will only grow.

She criticised the fact that, with the current system, third parties can only be elected in theory and she encouraged people entering politics not under the two main parties to stick together and find common ground, agreeing that the current figures are fragmented.

The president further pointed out the need for better party financing laws and expressed that parliament members are not paid enough.

In a social media post responding to this interview, Zammit Lewis challenged the notion of the need for electoral reform.

“There’s no doubt that we need to move away from the mentality of one opinion pitted against another, as if we are two football teams. A plurality of opinions is a positive thing for a modern and functioning democracy,” he said.

However, he argued that the outcome of the European Parliament election in which Malta’s amount of seats accounts as a single electoral district proved that the will of the Maltese people “has never been to elect independent candidates or those from smaller parties, and this has been the case election after election”.

He went on to call the current electoral system — the Single Transferable Vote (STV), “the best in the world for ensuring plurality of parties in Parliament.”

“There is no system better or fairer than this. Yet, the will of the people, election after election, has been clear. The electorate is sovereign. This also applies to who enters Parliament. Those who enter the chamber must have worked to earn the votes of the people and stood in the General Election. That is Parliamentary democracy!”

Do you think the Maltese electoral system needs to be reformed?