PN files judicial protest against Identity Malta, Electoral Commission over electoral registry

The Nationalist Party yesterday filed a judicial protest against Identity Malta and the Electoral Commission over incomplete electoral registers being passed on to the Opposition.

Last year, the PN slammed the electoral commission for placing cash-for-passport buyers on the electoral registry, meaning giving them a right to vote, not in accordance with the law due to residency requirements.

The judicial protest, signed by lawyer Malcolm Mifsud, states that the PN had been insisting since June 2016, that the Electoral Commission must ensure that it received a full list of persons granted Maltese citizenship from Identity Malta. The Electoral Commission was, instead, receiving incomplete lists where such persons are not included.

The Electoral Commission was not taking the necessary steps to allow Identity Malta to comply with its legal obligation of passing on information it has about citizenship figures every month to the Electoral Commission, reads the judicial protest. The Commission had limited itself to filing a judicial letter against the agency in October 2016, and had failed to take effective steps against the agency to enforce the legal obligations.

Addressing a press conference outside of the law courts, Clyde Puli said that for 18 months Identity Malta has failed to pass on the complete registry and is selectively omitting names, not in accordance with the law.

Puli stressed this does not only relate to passport buyers but it could be that people becoming citizens through naturalisation are also being left out of the list.

Puli said that the PN will give the government ten days to rectify this and failing this, will enter the next phase which would mean filing a court case.

“This is in breach of the law and is ruining transparency in the electoral process. This is not acceptable, the law says that each month, identity Malta passes on the whole list, with detail, to the electoral commission which then passes onto the political parties.”

Puli added that he is aware there have been discussions between the relevant parliamentary secretary and the Office of the Prime Minister about this particular issue.

Asked about whether a PN government would maintain the Individual Investor Programme, Puli skirted the question and said that the issue at hand is not about passport buyers.