Alternattiva Demokratika said in a statement today that “on the same day that Vivienne Reding reached an agreement on the residency requirements of new Maltese citizens, she also issued a warning to the Maltese Government on the inalienable voting rights of Maltese living abroad.”
AD Chairperson, Prof. Arnold Cassola, said: “The European Commission’s statement [1] vindicates what Alternattiva Demokratika has been saying for years on end. As pronounced in my constitutional court case against the Alfred Sant-Joseph Muscat attempt to deprive me of my voting rights in 2003, residence is defined as ‘not necessarily physical presence in Malta but habitual presence, with links and interests to our country’.”
“This means that all Maltese citizens living abroad – and not only the ones buying citizenship as from now – have an inalienable right to vote in national elections even if they live most of their time abroad,” Prof. Cassola said.
AD Deputy Chairperson, Carmel Cacopardo, said, “It is about time that the Maltese Government sheds its medieval mindset on this issue and started to treat Maltese citizens abroad with the dignity they deserve.”
“The last-minute crisis management operations for subsidised tickets and charter flights to transport expat voters are a drain on the national airline, and also serve as a loophole for the PL and the PN to access voters’ personal data.”
He added, “even though many Maltese expats currently avail themselves of subsidised tickets for a lightning voting trip, this arrangement excludes many other people whose different commitments would keep them in their host country on election day, or else who have temporary travel impediments, such as pregnancy, sickness or immobility.”
“These situations also give rise to Maltese voters changing their voting residence and voting for Euro and local elections in their host country which, though perfectly legitimate, frequently arises through this surreptitious disenfranchisement. We therefore agree that, as in the majority of EU countries, Maltese resident abroad should be able to vote in the nearest Maltese embassy,” Carmel Cacopardo concluded.
The European Commission on Wednesday issued guidance to EU-Member States which have rules in place leading to a loss of voting rights for citizens in national elections, simply because they have exercised their right to free movement in the EU.
Five Member States (Denmark, Ireland, Cyprus, Malta and the United Kingdom) currently apply regimes which have that effect. Whilst under the existing EU Treaties, Member States are competent to determine who can benefit from the right to vote in national elections, disenfranchisement practices can negatively affect EU free movement rights.