One of the PN’s newest MPs wants it to change its rules

Political guru George Vital Zammit has some advice for the party he now represents in parliament.

A University of Malta senior lecturer, with research interests in parliamentary affairs, he was elected to parliament through a casual election.

He made it to parliament amid controversy over whether Nationalist Party (PN) leader Alex Borg could cede his district 12 seat despite winning fewer votes on the Gozo district. The PN’s rules say candidates must keep the seat where they received the most votes in relation to the electoral quota. Vital Zammit thinks that should change.

“I think the PN would do well to look at its statute and see whether the model of giving more power and discretion to the leader should be adopted. I think those amendments are needed,” he said. “If he [the leader] thinks that a certain person is better suited to a particular district for the party, then I think that is what should be done.”

Under Malta’s electoral system, general election candidates can run on up to two districts. Should they be successful on both, they must cede a seat. While the Labour Party’s executive is free to decide which seat an MP can keep, the PN is bound by its statutory rules.

As expected, Borg was elected in both the 12th and 13th districts. Despite receiving more votes in the 12th district, he retained his Gozo seat, triggering the casual election that brought Vital Zammit into parliament.

Discretion

The PN argued that, as leader, Borg was not like any other candidate and could, therefore, retain his Gozo seat without breaching the statute. Vital Zammit said he fully agreed with that argument.

“I completely support the reasons given by the party leader. He is Gozitan and has the privilege that Gozitans might soon have a prime minister,” Vita Zammit said.

Vital Zammit said the Labour Party’s statute gives far more discretion and allows the party to decide strategically which seat an MP must cede. “When evaluating what is in the best interests of the party, I think that is the best policy.”

Vital Zammit, a politics lecturer since 2012, said his “sentiments” had always been close to those of the PN and that he had been a frequent contributor to Net Television over the years.

After being tasked with drafting the PN’s electoral programme in October 2014, Vital Zammit was announced as an electoral candidate only weeks before the May 30 election.

He pledged that, although he had only a few weeks before the ballot and little time for a grassroots campaign, he would spend more time in the 12th district, where he was elected.

Although he drafted the party’s electoral programme, Vital Zammit was assigned the research and innovation portfolio rather than responsibility for implementing the manifesto. He said he was “elated” with the role, given his background in tertiary education.