MLP say courts will decide on Cassola's right to vote

None of the people, who had commented on the application for Dr Arnold Cassola to be removed from the electoral register, had contacted the Labour Party for clarification, the MLP said in a statement yesterday.

The MLP was reacting after Pat Cox, president of the European Parliament, earlier this week wrote to the European Federation of Green Parties saying that Malta was a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, in which the right to vote is entrenched.

The Labour Party filed an application saying that Dr Cassola, the secretary general of the European Federation of Green Parties, is ineligible to vote because he does not meet residency requirements.

The case is scheduled to be heard in the Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

"The electoral application filed by the MLP is in line with the Constitution and with electoral law, and will be considered by the judicial system of the country, which we understand enjoys the trust of the EU institutions. The MLP will abide by the court's decision," the MLP said yesterday.

"There is no question that what the MLP is doing could be discriminatory; on the contrary, it is being done to ensure that the electoral process is clean, fair and transparent, and that no one is allowed to enjoy privileges because they occupy a political post, whether in Malta or in the EU.

"No one is shocked or commenting about the hundreds of people who have lost their right to vote and who will be coming to vote on the Lm10 flights."

The MLP pointed out that it was in favour of changing the Constitution to enable Maltese working overseas to vote, but that it had been constrained to vote against the amendments when these were brought up in parliament, because the PN did not respect a prior agreement on various changes that had been agreed between the two parties.