Alternattiva Demokratika – The Green Party said in a statement today that voting rights of Maltese citizens residing abroad should be upheld in the upcoming elections.

Michael Briguglio, AD Chairperson, said, “it is about time that Maltese citizens residing abroad should be able to vote in these respective countries. This will make things easier for such voters, and Malta will therefore avoid the unnecessary cost and controversies regarding flights to Malta during the elections.”

Prof. Arnold Cassola, AD Spokesperson on EU and International Affairs, commented, “Labour should stop striking off names of Maltese voters who are residing abroad. We are in a day and age of globalisation, information technology and constant travel. 10 years ago, Joseph Muscat was an active protagonist of the Labour party that tried to deprive me of my right to vote after I had been voted the only non-EU citizen to ever become Secretary General of a European political party in Brussels. Labour keeps repeating this by attempting to takeaway the vote of Maltese citizens residing abroad. PL is going against the March 2003 Constitutional court ruling that states that “residence does not necessarily mean physical presence in Malta, but habitual presence.”

The landmark ruling said, “A person abroad for study or work purposes may still be directly and continuously concerned with political activity in his country of residence and there lies no justification for the denial of that person’s right to vote. Any other interpretation of the word ‘residence’ that is, a continuous physical presence in the country, could lead to a denial of the right to vote to a person having a direct and personal interest in the country’s future and this in violation of Article 3 of the First Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights.”

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