Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1510125
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 OCTOBER 2023 8 INTERVIEW Mayors at 16: Alison Zerafa Civelli says it empowers youth GOVERNMENT is proposing allow- ing 16-year-olds to become mayors in legal amendments tabled in parlia- ment recently. The changes were an electoral pledge and appear to enjoy cross-party sup- port. But Alison Zerafa Civelli, the par- liamentary secretary piloting the law, is evasive when asked about legal dis- crepancies that would result from the changes. In an interview with MaltaToday, Zerafa Civelli is unable to address a hypothetical scenario where a 16-year- old mayor would be able to sign doc- uments required for the local council to purchase a property, but the same teenager would be legally barred from purchasing a property for themselves, in their own name. Instead, she insists the draft Bill emancipates Maltese youth, while safeguarding the electorate's freedom of choice. Another proposal in the PL manifes- to was the introduction of the gender parity mechanism in local elections. However, no legal amendments have yet been put forward in this regard. Zerafa Civelli says the effects of the mechanism are still being studied af- ter it was used for the first time in last year's general election. "The analysis is ongoing," she says. A former mayor herself, Zerafa Civ- elli disagrees with criticism expressed by several mayors from across the po- litical divide that local councils have lost their autonomy. She says councils have been strengthened during their 30 years of existence. Alison Zerafa Civelli is parliamentary secretary responsible for local government. She sits down with MATTHEW FARRUGIA to discuss the proposal that would allow 16-year-olds to become mayors, the electoral system and the gender parity mechanism.