Reactions to the referendum result

Joe Saliba, general secretary, Nationalist Party - "A total of 91 per cent of the people decided to take the decision on EU membership in their own hands rather than leave it up to the politicians. This is very positive."

Mr Saliba noted that the number of invalid votes was small and appeared to be even less than the norm, showing, he said, that the people went to vote according to their convictions.

The decision whether Malta should join the EU or not was therefore based on the yes and no votes. The referendum result was a victory for all the Maltese and Gozitans.

Joanna Drake, IVA Movement - "The people went in large numbers to vote according to their own will - choosing yes or no. The people exercised their right to vote in a clear way. It seemed that the people were decided."

Arnold Cassola, general secretary European Greens and Alternattiva Demokratika EU spokesman - "AD has been working in favour of the EU since 1990. The Maltese have made a clear decision, there were only a few invalid votes. This is a moment where the Maltese showed they wanted to contribute, they wanted to express themselves.

"We now have to see how to avoid division among the Maltese, we should also think about the losers. Those who won have to open their arms to the losers because we are all Maltese and this is everybody's victory."

Harry Vassallo, AD chairman - "This is a victory for Malta and not for any political party. It was the first exercise in direct democracy the people enjoyed in the past 40 years, which AD had been working for on its own steam for many years. The people responded heartily and gave a clear decision. It is the yes votes that count whenever such a decision is taken, abstentions do not count as votes. The result is a clear affirmation for EU membership. There are no losers. It is important that we do not spend the next 40 years debating whether membership would be beneficial for Malta or not, as we did with independence.

"Labour leader Alfred Sant should revisit his mathematics if he believes the result is a victory for partnership. Those who did not vote did not say either yes or no."

Sharon Ellul Bonici, NO2EU - "All those who wanted to vote yes did so, the MLP's directive offered three options - to vote no, invalidate the vote or abstain - there were those who abstained so I count those with the no vote, there were those who invalidated their vote, whom I also count with the no vote, and there were those who voted no. I am extremely satisfied that out of all the eligible votes, fewer than 50 per cent of yes votes were obtained. This means a victory for the no lobby."

Vince Farrugia, director general GRTU - "To be fair, one would first have to analyse the result and the GRTU council will be doing that when it meets on Wednesday. The referendum has shown that the political parties should give more leeway to constituted bodies and members of the civil society when it comes to decide on matters of national import.

"What constituted bodies really look forward to is the end of uncertainty in the country."

Edward Scicluna, economist - "I took a sample of 11,400 votes to get a snapshot of what the referendum result was indicating after 30 per cent of the votes cast were sorted.

"The sample indicated that 52.7 per cent of the votes cast were yes votes, 44.79 per cent were no votes and 2.5 per cent were invalid. These results were extrapolated to the total number of votes cast. Statistics have always been a means of controversy because it all depends on what denominator they are based upon."

Gejtu Vella, Union Haddiema Maghqudin's secretary general - "The UHM has worked hard over the past few years and I am satisfied that the work done has been appreciated.

"Now that the people have spoken, everyone should accept the will of the people and no one should question it. Malta has won."

Joe Farrugia, director general of the Malta Employers' Association said his association was in favour of Malta joining the EU and the fact that the referendum had passed with such a majority was positive.

"Everybody stands to win with EU membership. When employers say that EU membership would be positive, that means better job opportunities. A win for the yes vote is a win for one and all. Conversely, a defeat at the polls would have been everybody's loss."

Anton Borg, Federation of Industry president, said the result was the one wished for by the FOI. Now that the result was out, the FOI urged politicians to end the uncertainties that prevailed over the past five weeks.

Roderick Pace, European Movement - "The referendum result is clear and unambiguous in favour of membership. The Maltese people have decided for membership and the sovereign will of the people must be respected.

"The European Movement (Malta) is satisfied with the strong turnout and with the fact that voters in their absolute majority clearly indicated their preference for or against membership as befits a mature electorate in a true democracy.

"The European Movement (Malta) is also satisfied that the referendum has shown that negative campaigning and scaremongering have not yielded the desired results. The Movement sadly observes that our democratic system is once again being put through a severe test by those who refuse to acknowledge the rules of democracy and appeals to all responsible politicians of their duty to serve the interests of all the Maltese people and to work for unity among them. If it is claimed that a 53 per cent yes is not indicative of the wishes of the people, how much less is a 45 per cent no vote?"

Denis MacShane, British Minister for Europe - "We are delighted that the Maltese people voted yes in their referendum. This is good news for Malta, the UK and the rest of the EU.

"It sends a positive signal to the population of the other nine prospective members.

"I look forward to complementing our excellent bilateral and Commonwealth relations with interaction, as partners of choice in the EU, adding a new dimension to our strong friendship.

"In the run up to May 1, 2004, we will continue to share with Malta, through the UK, Malta, Europe action plan, our own experiences of doing business in the EU."

Tony Zarb, the General Workers' Union's secretary general - "As a serious union, the GWU respects every decision taken by the electorate and will respect every other decision that the Maltese will take in the months ahead. It is of great satisfaction to note that in spite of the intensive campaign that has been carried out against the union, a lot of workers understood the GWU's message on the detrimental effects that EU membership would have on them and their families. Workers, their families and pensioners are realising more than ever the importance of having a serious union to defend their interests. The GWU maintains that EU membership will mean negative results for workers."

French ambassador Patrick Chrismant - "We have observed with great satisfaction the EU referendum results. We have always thought of Malta as part of Europe while we respect the sovereignty of the Maltese people. We are very satisfied that Malta would reap great benefits as a true member of the EU. I was expecting a yes vote as well as a high no vote because Malta is divided about the EU. The EU debate always creates opposite camps as also happened in 1956 when France was about to become a founder member of the European Economic Community. The fact that Malta was not a member of the EU had slowed down interest from French investors. It is clear that as far as French investment is concerned Malta will be seen in a more favourable light as soon as it joins Europe".

Italian ambassador Alvise Memmo - "My country has always been in favour of EU enlargement and of the candidate countries joining the EU. The referendum result is a very positive thing. With EU membership the relationship between Italy and Malta will be enhanced. From what I read in the local newspapers last week it was indicated that the Maltese would vote yes to EU membership. Malta's yes vote could very well act as an impetus to the other candidate countries".

Albert Leone Ganado, Campaign for National Independence - "As far as CNI is concerned, the referendum result should have been based on obtaining 50 per cent of the registered voters."

German ambassador Georg Merten - "Germany is very happy with the referendum result and we welcome Malta in the EU in 2004. This was a very intensive campaign where the electorate was split between membership and partnership. The result has demonstrated that Malta is the first of the candidate countries to decide on membership. Malta belongs to Europe and with the other nine candidate countries, the split that in the past divided Europe will come to an end.

"The benefits of membership include free access to a huge market and a great opportunity for young people to study in Europe. The Maltese will no longer need visas to stay in EU member states for longer than three months. Tourism to Malta will grow because Europeans prefer to visit countries which have a common ground as their own. The introduction of the Euro, furthermore, will ease economic development."