Mistakes in addresses provided by the Electoral Commission to the Labour Party has once again led to a postponement in the court case about the two extra parliamentary seats filed by the Nationalist Party after counting errors during the last election.
The Labour Party was supposed to conclude its part in the proceedings by presenting four witnesses today. But only two of them turned up. The other two, who are Electoral Commission employees, did not attend the sitting because the address they were supposed to reside in – and which was provided by the commission to the PL – was not the correct one.
This meant that the two employees were not notified with the summons.
It is understood that an effort is being made for the two employees to be found to be taken to court for the proceedings to continue today.
In another sitting on 13 January, the Labour Party was given until 29 January to provide all remaining witnesses in the case raging on about whether the Nationalist Party should be awarded two extra Parliamentary seats after what the PN contends were mistakes committed in the counting process by the Electoral Commission during the 2013 election.
In the previous sitting, Madame Justice Schembri Orland criticised Dr Abela for his "unprofessional behaviour" when the case was delayed due to him not providing any witnesses. She remarked that such a delay was not suitable in a case that is so "vital" to the Maltese people.
In the last general election a packet of 50 votes in the 8th district belonging to PN candidate Claudette Buttigieg was erroneously transferred to PN candidate Michael Asciak.
Dr Asciak was subsequently eliminated which led to now Finance Minister Edward Scicluna being elected. In addition to this, Parliamentary Secretary Justyne Caruana was elected after 10 votes belonging to PN candidate Frederick Azzopardi in the 13th district went missing.
The PN then launched court proceedings against the Electoral Commission and the Attorney General, where they claimed that the mistakes affected the outcome of the election result. It then also requested to be awarded the two seats. The PL were not included in the proceedings at this stage.
The First Hall has already ruled in PN's favour and subsequently ordered the Electoral Commission to provide the PN with its two extra seats.
The Constitutional Court however annulled that decision. It upheld the argument put forward by the PL where they said that the party should have been included in the initial court proceedings. As a result of this, the case was then sent back to the First Hall.
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/1SNDnMg
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment