MaltaToday previous editions

MALTATODAY 24 March 2019

Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1096093

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 14 of 55

15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 MARCH 2019 NEWS EUROPE 2019 aspirations to secure a third seat in the European Parlia- ment. Third-party transfers One other factor that has so far not emerged from the polls is the vote share that third-parties will obtain. In 2014, third parties and independents secured more than 16,000 first count votes – 6.6% of the electorate. This included a good performance by far-right candidate Nor- man Lowell. None of the third-party can- didates and independents got elected or came close to get- ting elected. Polling data so far has shown there is little appetite for third parties and inde- pendents. The Democratic Party will, for the first time, contest on its own steam but so far, polls suggest the PD has failed to make any significant inroads among the electorate. Lowell only announced his candidature last week and the impact of this still has to be determined. Another aspect to look out for is Cassola's run as an independent candi- date after he fell out with AD. If the survey results are eventually reflected in the EP election, the PN will be hoping that any votes given to third parties will be trans- ferred to its candidates to enable it to get closer to the third seat. However, historical data does not favour the PN. In the 2014 MEP election, the PN only gained 14% of Norman Lowell's votes when the Imperium Europa candi- date dropped out of the race on count 17. This was akin to the share of votes Alternat- tiva Demokratika candidate Arnold Cassola inherited from Lowell. PL candidates inherited a quarter while 47% of Lowell's votes were non-transferable. A similar scenario devel- oped when Cassola dropped out of the race at count 21. PN candidates inherited 31% of Cassola's votes, PL candi- dates inherited 22%, while 47% were non-transferable. The next European elections will take place on 23 to 26 May 2019, with all the European Union's member states voting to elect their representatives to the European Parliament Who is being elected? There are currently 751 members of the Europe- an Parliament, known as MEPs. This is the limit set in the Treaties. When the United Kingdom leaves the European Union – still expected to happen on 29 March 2019 – that number will shrink to 705 MEPs. The man- date of Britain's 73 MEPs will lapse when the UK withdraws, and 46 of its 73 seats will be placed in a reserve, to be allocated to new countries which join the bloc in the future. How many MEPs does each country have? This depends on the country's population. Ger- many has 96 MEPs, while Malta, Cyprus and Lux- embourg have six each. However, 14 EU countries, which are currently slightly under-represented, will be seeing an in- crease in their number of seats. The remaining 27 seats that belonged to the UK (and which won't be kept in reserve) will be re-distributed amongst them, as follows: • The number of French MEPs will grow from 74 to 79, while Spanish MEPs will increase from 54 to 59 • Italy and the Netherlands will each gain three seats, going from 73 to 76 and 26 to 29 respectively • Ireland will increase its number of MEPs from to 11 to 13. • Denmark, Estonia, Croatia, Austria, Poland, Ro- mania, Slovakia, Finland, and Sweden will all be allocated one additional seat • The number of MEPs which Malta has – six – will remain the same. Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithu- ania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Portugal, and Slove- nia will also maintain the same number the cur- rently have How are MEPs elected? The individual countries are free to choose the electoral formula for the allocation of their share of seats in the European Parliament, as long as that formula used ensures proportional represen- tation. Most member states use a list system. In some of these, voters can only vote for a party, without the possibility of changing the order of candidates on the list – this is known as a closed list. In other member states, voters can express their prefer- ence for one or more candidates, known as pref- erential voting – known as an open list. In the case of Malta and Ireland (and Northern Ireland before the UK's withdrawal), the single- transferable vote (STV) system is used. This allows voters to have one vote, but they can rank candi- dates in order of their first, second, third prefer- ence, etc. What do MEPs do? MEPs are elected representatives within the EU who are meant to represent the interests of their local constituents. The European Parliament has, progressively through the treaties, been given ad- ditional powers, in an effort to increase the EU's democratic legitimacy. It remains the only institu- tion at European level that is directly elected by EU citizens. The European Commission presents legislative proposals to the European Council and European Parliament, where MEPs negotiate the legislation with national government minister. The propos- als can only become law if both institutions agree them to. MEPs also have a major say when it comes to cer- tain important budgetary areas – such as regional funds and agriculture – and they can put pressure on the European Commission to legislate on spe- cific issues. They can also act on matters raised to them by their voters, who can turn to them directly. Euro-parliamentarians must give their consent to EU trade agreements with third countries, and when it comes to admitting new members into the Union Which groups form the European Parliament? MEPs are elected from their own national parties, but, once elected, most of them join European- level groups made up of parties from other coun- tries that hold similar political views. There were eight political groups in the 2014- 2019 European Parliament: • EPP (European People's Party – Christian Democrats) – centre-right, support more EU inte- gration • Socialist (Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats) – main centre-left group • Conservative (European Conservatives and Re- formists) – seek reform within the EU • Liberal (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) – centrist group, highly in favour of more integration • Left (Confederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left) – left-wing group con- taining socialist and communist parties • Green (Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance) – group of parties representing regional interests and green parties • EFD (Europe of Freedom and Direct Democ- racy) – rightist, averse to more integration • ENF (Europe of Nations and Freedom) – launched in 2015, an alliance of rightist political parties which is projected to see a substantial in- crease in seats What is the electoral procedure? The election will take place over the space of four days, with countries divided in groups to vote over different days. Malta will vote on 25 May, which will mark the first use of a new electronic vote counting system, which is expected to lead to the faster announce- ment of results. The EP elections in Malta at a glance Voting day: May 25 Voting is voluntary Voting age: 16 Voting system: Single transferable vote Number of registered voters: 341,856 (2017) Seats in the European Parliament: 6 Candidates Labour Party: Alfred Sant, Mary Gauci, Lorna Vassallo, Robert Micallef, Cyrus Engerer, Alex Agi- us Saliba, Felix Busuttil, Miriam Dalli, James Grech, Joe Sammut, Josianne Cutajar, Fleur Vella, Noel Cassar and Josef Caruana Nationalist Party: Roberta Metsola, Francis Zam- mit Dimech, David Casa, Dione Borg, Frank Psaila, Peter Agius, Michael Briguglio, David Stellini, Roselyn Borg Knight, Michael Mercieca Democratic Party: Camilla Appelgren, Anthony Buttigieg and Martin Cauchi Inglott Alternattiva Demokratika: Carmel Cacopardo and Mina Tolu Independent: Arnold Cassola, Antoine Borg, Ste- phen Florian Imperium Europa: Norman Lowell The European Parliament Miriam Dalli (above) and Alfred Sant (left) are running for re- election on the Labour ticket The Democratic Party will, for the first time, contest on its own steam but so far, polls suggest the PD has failed to make any significant inroads among the electorate

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of MaltaToday previous editions - MALTATODAY 24 March 2019