Final electoral districts announced

The final version of the revised electoral boundaries was issued by the Electoral Commission yesterday after having been unanimously agreed by the electoral commissioners.

The new boundaries, which cannot be changed for at least two years, are significantly different from the original proposals, published in May. Those proposals had been made by four of the seven electoral commissioners and had drawn the wrath of the Nationalist Party. The other commissioners had submitted a minority report. Parliament had rejected the original proposals and asked the commission to revise them. The new boundaries were welcomed by the Nationalist Party yesterday.

Michael Falzon, deputy leader (party affairs) of the Labour Party, also appeared to cautiously approve them.

Among the major changes in the new districts as compared to the districts at the 2003 elections is that Ghajnsielem has been hived off the Gozo district since the island's population has exceeded the limits set by the Constitution for each electoral district.

The government and the opposition have still not agreed on electoral amendments which would enable Gozo to be retained as one district.

Other significant changes in the new districts compared to the districts at the 2003 elections are that part of Marsa returns to the first district; Zabbar is included as a whole in the second district while Fgura moves to the third; Ghaxaq moves to the fourth and Kirkop moves to the fifth district.

Siggiewi moves to the sixth district while Mgarr Mtarfa and Rabat move to the seventh.

Iklin, with 2,242 voters and its own local council, is nowhere to be found in the new districts. However, an enclosed map shows it in the eighth district. At the last elections, Iklin was divided between the eighth and the ninth districts.

Gharghur and Swieqi move to the ninth district. Gzira moves to the tenth district while Mdina, Attard and Balzan join Mosta in the 11th.

The 12th district now includes Ghajnsielem and Comino, transferred from the 13th district.

The Nationalist Party in a statement said the way the districts had been revised since the original proposals were made by four of the seven electoral commissioners in May proved how right it had been in its criticism.

The party said the original proposals had been based on reasoning and calculations not provided for in the Constitution, and those districts would have yielded a perverse electoral result.

"The Nationalist Party is pleased to note that the Chief Electoral Commissioner and all the comissioners have considered what was declared by the PN and have revised the district boundaries in a way which has drawn the unanimous approval of the commission" the party said.

It added that Parliament should debate constitutional amendments so that Gozo would remain as in one district. The government should move such a constitutional amendment in the House and it was calling on the opposition to back it, the PN said.

In its reaction to the revision of the districts, the Malta Labour Party expressed its satisfaction that the final report by the Electoral Commission was extremely similar to the original report presented to Parliament last May.

The report, the party added was a far cry from the minority report that had the backing of the Nationalist Party last May.

When one compares this revisions with past electoral results, it is expected that the principle of proportionality of votes will be better reflected in the number of parliamentary seats obtained.

MLP deputy leader Michael Falzon said the new boundaries seemed to be better than those which had given a perverse electoral result in 1996, 1998 and 2003.

He said the new districts also seemed to reflect all the underlying principles the Labour Party had advocated.

Asked about the talks which were being held between the parties on amendments to the electoral law and the Constitution, Dr Falzon said the talks had stopped but the plan was for them to be resumed.