Volt Malta expresses support for ADPD's constitutional case

Volt Malta expresses support for ADPD's constitutional case

04 Apr 2022, 10:00:00 UTC
Volt Malta has publicly expressed its support for ADPD's constitutional case regarding the electoral system.
  • Volt expresses support for ADPD’s constitutional case
  • Wishes to see more voices present in parliament
  • Hopes the case, if successful, addresses the gender corrective mechanism

The progressive party has publicly expressed its support for ADPD's constitutional case regarding the electoral system.

The proportionality mechanism is based on party votes earned nationwide, therefore it agrees that it is discriminatory to exclude non-parliamentary parties from the mechanism, especially if they earned enough votes.

"This is a golden opportunity to make the current electoral system more democratic by making it more accessible for diverse voices to enter Parliament and represent their voters." added Alexia DeBono, Volt Malta Co-President

The party added that if Malta is to move forward from the red-blue dichotomy then the legislation has to stop being focused on just 2 elected parties.

"2 party parliaments are the exception in democracies, not the norm," added Arnas Lasys, Volt Malta Co-President. 

The party also hopes that this case, if successful, also addresses the gender corrective mechanism. The party has spoken against it in the past, claiming that it's medicine for the symptom but not a remedy for the root causes which include the local political culture, and the parties themselves.

"Parties should have to present gender alternating candidate lists, so they're incentivised to have a broader range of candidates." added Matthias Portelli, Volt Malta Policy Lead.

With 295,248 valid votes cast for 65 seats, each seat is meant to represent 4,542 votes At the current rate of 79 seats (+12 gender corrective, +2 bonus of PN) we’re on track for each seat representing 3,737 votes and a third party with almost 1,000 more than that is still not given a seat.