A revision of electoral boundaries could see Birkirkara split, with part of Malta’s second largest town joining the first district, according to sources close to government.

A draft report seen by Times of Malta indicates the proposed changes will also see part of Marsascala going to the second district, with the rest remaining in the third. The second district is built around the Three Cities and also includes Żabbar, part of Fgura, Kalkara and Xagħjra.

The third district is made up of Żejtun, Għaxaq, Marsascala and Marsaxlokk.

The electoral boundaries are currently being revised by the Electoral Commission as part of a constitutional requirement for periodic revision to ensure that their population size does not fluctuate by more than 5%.

The first district is traditionally built around Valletta, Floriana and Marsa but as its population declined over the years, other localities were added to it so that in recent years it also included Ħamrun, Gwardamanga, Pietà and Santa Venera, which continues to be the case.

But sources told Times of Malta that under the proposed revision, it would have Fleur-de-Lys and part of Birkirkara added to it as well.

Such boundary revisions are a nightmare for election candidates, who would have ‘worked’ their localities over the years with a large number of house visits and activities which could count for nothing when parts of a locality are moved to a district they would not be contesting.

But splitting Birkirkara could have bigger political consequences. Birkirkara was, for years, a Nationalist Party stronghold, even though that withered recently.

The parts that are being moved to the first district are known to be traditionally Nationalist (except for the Ta’ Paris area), which could weaken the Labour Party’s recent hold on the first district, or conversely, weaken the PN on the eighth, where most of Birkirkara remains.

It is understood, however, that this proposed change was suggested by the Labour members of the commission, with the PN representatives objecting.

Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami indicated his dismay saying in a Facebook post over the weekend that the locality should not be split.

Meanwhile, sources said no changes appear to be in store for the fourth and fifth districts.

The sixth will see Ħal Farruġ added to Qormi, Luqa and Siġġiewi. Rabat and Żebbuġ will remain at the core of the seventh district, with Żebbuġ no longer split. The other localities here are Dingli, Mtarfa, Baħrija, Tal-Virtù and Mdina. Mdina was previously in the 11th district.

The eighth district will retain the bulk of Birkirkara, as well as Balzan, Swatar, Lija, Iklin and part of Naxxar now also being added to it.

The other part of Naxxar is going to the 10th district, joining Gżira, Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, Pembroke, St Julian’s, Paceville and Sliema.

No changes to the other districts are proposed.

The electoral boundaries are currently being revised by the Electoral Commission.

Eighth district will be biggest, 11th smallest

That means that the eighth district will be the biggest with a voting population of 28,005 while the 11th will be the smallest with 24,430.

The composition of electoral districts is governed by Article 61 of the Constitution, which lays down that the Electoral Commission shall review the boundaries of the districts at intervals of not less than two nor more than five years and may alter the boundaries whenever parliament alters the number of districts or to keep the voting population sizes relatively equal.

Once the revision is complete, a report is tabled in parliament and comes into force after it is debated and approved. The House may, however, decide to send the report back for further review. Changes come into effect from the next dissolution of parliament.

Changes to the electoral boundaries must take account of geographical vicinity, differences in population density and other relevant factors.

The voter population between the districts cannot exceed 5%.

Gozo, however, must remain a single district, independently of its population size.

Malta has 12 electoral districts, with Gozo being the 13th. Each return five MPs. Until 1981, the composition of parliament was decided solely on the basis of the number of seats won by each political party. But Malta was thrown into a political crisis in 1981 when the Labour Party won an absolute majority of seats, but it was the Nationalist Party which won an absolute majority of votes.

That happened after the electoral boundaries were revised in a manner which the PN said was a case of gerrymandering, with corridors having been created to link a number of localities to favour the Labour Party.

The constitution was amended shortly before the 1987 election to ensure that the political party which wins an absolute majority of first-count votes will be guaranteed an absolute parliamentary majority – by having additional seats allocated to it if need be. In 1996 another constitutional amendment was introduced which ensured that the party with a relative majority of votes will be awarded an absolute majority of seats – only however, if two parties were represented in parliament.

The Electoral Commission consists of representatives of the PL and the PN, with the prime minister appointing the chairman.

There were several instances in the past where the Commission was split on the way the boundaries were drawn. In such cases, majority and minority reports were sent to parliament, with the majority report invariably becoming law.