MLP sticks to the letter of the law

Labour Party general secretary Jimmy Magro said the MLP's application to strike off Alternattiva Demokratika's EU spokesman Arnold Cassola's name from the electoral register was in conformity with the Constitution.

In a letter to Charles Chase, secretary of the presidency at the Palace, Mr Magro said the constitutional provisions were well known.

The President had been asked to intervene in the case by AD, and the President's secretary, in a letter, asked both parties to take note of the request.

Dr Cassola is also general secretary of the European Greens, which necessitates frequent absences from Malta.

Mr Magro said Dr Cassola would be breaking the law if he voted in the coming elections because he had spent more than six months out of the country over the last 18 months.

Even if the application were withdrawn, he would still have to take responsibility for his actions, he said.