Maltese voters living abroad should vote in their respective embassies, Alternattiva Demokratika said.
In a statement, spokesman on EU and international affairs Arnold Cassola said that in view of the Air Malta chairman's reasonable declaration that Air Malta could not afford footing the bill for cheap flights to Malta for next elections, and in view of the 2003 Constitutional Court definition of residence as "not necessarily physical presence" in Malta, the electoral commission should ensure that polling booths were set up in the Maltese embassies in European capitals to ensure that all Maltese citizens could exert their legitimate right as Maltese citizens.
Chairman Michael Briguglio said: "It is about time that Malta's electoral process adopts methods similar to those of established democracies. This also includes the right of Maltese voters living abroad to vote in respective embassies. It is ironic that the parties in parliament are fossilised in systems and methods which are based on mistrust."
Addressing a news conference at Balzan this morning, Dr Briguglio commented on the current political situation.
He said AD was not rubbing its hands with anticipation of a general election. Yet, given the circumstances, it was imperative that the situation was solved once and for all through the parliamentary debate next week.
“Should a general election be called, AD will be contesting, and our main message will be that by voting green one can bring about real change. The two-party system has now become bankrupt and is no guarantee for a stable democracy and for much needed reforms.”
However, even though Malta was currently facing an unstable political situation, one could not ignore important issues which concerned peoples' daily experiences.
“Having accessible infrastructure is an important issue in this regard. For example, most roads and pavements in Malta are in a substandard situation, to the detriment of pedestrians, drivers, persons with disability, children, the elderly, parents with pushchairs, and others. Mismanagement from Transport Malta and various local councils is allowing contractors to get away with shoddy jobs, for example by using poor material for road resurfacing and building of pavements. To-date, Transport Malta has yet to publish a list of contraventions given to overloaded trucks which are damaging roads and pavements.
"Unlike other parties, AD has no obligations to the construction industry, and the election of green councillors will ensure that this issue is given the importance it deserves," he said.
AD council candidate for Balzan Andre` Vella complained about the poor infrastructure in the locality, inadequate pavements and the substandard state of the roads which were impeding mobility.
Both problems, he said, were accentuated by flooding, which was another major concern.