NGO proposes ixed-term parliament, ban on non-essential public appointments

The NGO Repubblika has put forward a number of proposals with the aim of, as they say, fighting corruption in Malta’s electoral process.

Addressing a press conference launching the NGO’s proposals – a 22-page document called ‘Fighting Corruption in our Elections’ – the organisation’s president Robert Aquilina said that stronger surveillance was needed in order to ensure that current rules on voter corruption are followed.

The NGO is proposing that a parliamentary legislature should have a fixed-term, hence eliminating the power of the leader of the party in government to decide the date of the general election themselves in a strategic manner to benefit them.

They also proposed that in the year prior to an election date, a mechanism to stop abuse on the basis of power of incumbency comes into place.

That mechanism would mean that in the year before the election, the government would not be allowed to make non-essential appointments in the public sector, would not be able to start promotion processes or appointments in public entities, would not be allowed to grant permits for developments or other staterelated matters in this regard in a more hurried manner than usual, and would not be allowed to set aside public land for private interests.

Aquilina said that the abuse of what is popularly referred to as the “power of incumbency” is not a new problem, however it is certainly not an excuse to not challenge the status quo and the widespread tolerance that there is to bad practice when it comes to elections.

He said that it certainly doesn’t help that the elections are almost the exclusive competence of the politicians seeking to be elected themselves, and neither does it help that rules on the separation between state resources and partisan campaigning are either inexistent, vague, or untouched for many years.

Maltese law prohibits people from giving, lending, or aggressing to give, lend, or offer money or something which costs money to a voter. This amounts to corruption under Malta’s law, however this practice remains all too common, he said.

“Favours” or “arrangements” for a job in the public sector, a permit, license, or contract, are frequently the subject of conversations with political candidates, Aquilina said.

“Clientelism, seen as an ordinary requisite of the political process, is clearly prohibited in our existing legislation”, Aquilina said, adding that the punishment for this is a fine, jail-time, and the loss of one’s parliamentary seat.

He said that it is unacceptable that the institutions which should be enforcing these laws remain inactive, adding that this inactivity is one of the reasons as to why corruption is widely accepted in the electoral system.

“Whoever carries it out has the certainty that they will enjoy complete impunity,” he said.

Likewise, he said, the wrongful use of public funds when an election is approaching is unacceptable – referring to an increase in publicity material from ministries and government agencies and an intensification of public works in ministers’ constituencies as examples of this.

Aquilina said that there haven’t been allegations of election fixing for a while, which is down to the fact that political parties are allowed to actively and effectively follow the electoral process – something which is important, he said, and must continue.

It does however mean that, that which parties ignore, is ignored by everyone else, which is why Repubblika is proposing improvements in the resources available to the independent media and to civil society so that they can fully observe the electoral campaigns and denounce any unethical behaviour.

In this regard, they asked that the electoral process be open to observers who are not affiliated with political parties, saying that civil society groups should be invited and allocated funds to monitor conformity with the existing laws and standards.

In their document, Repubblika proposed that the current laws do not go ignored. “Before any changes are made, we need to ensure that the current laws are working and are enforced,” Aquilina said.

He said that the General Elections Act from 1939 may need amending, but that its aims of cutting out corruption and other abuses are still valid today.

Repubblika also proposed that agencies such as the Electoral Commission and the Police Force have the duty to inform the public of their rights and obligations, and on the obligations of politicians.