Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/448091
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 18 JANUARY 2015 10 FOLLOWING recent amendments to the law, 16-year-olds will now be eligible to vote in local council elec- tions. The amendment passed by the Maltese parliamentarians refers strictly to the ability to vote in local elections. But with a government de- cision to hold the local council elec- tions with the abrogative referendum on spring hunting, the question arose on why the young adults shouldn't be able to have their say in a referendum as well. The reasons, in reality, are not many and appear to boil down to one issue: the legal aspect of the proposal and how it would affect the legitimacy of the result of the referendum. The legalism of it all was explained by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in parliament, who said that the referen- dum process has already begun with a set of rules that does not include the right of 16-year-olds to vote. "If the goalposts are changed now, the referendum will be opened up to fresh challenges from the hunters," Muscat told parliament. One must also not forget that back in August 2013 Muscat had told members of the Vote 16 committee that, depending on the success of the Vote 16 campaign, the voting age could be lowered for general elec- tions, European Parliament elections and referenda. But before this could happen – which would also require another consultation process – the local council elections have "to turn out to be a success". Sociologist Michael Briguglio, who is supporting the 'No' to spring hunt- ing campaign, is all for 16-year-olds to be granted a vote in the referen- dum as well. But he admits that this could create legalistic problems. "I agree that 16-year-olds should be able to vote in all elections and, as chairman of Alternattiva Demokra- tika, I had campaigned for it. But at the same time one cannot discard the fact that the referendum proc- ess kicked off on a set of rules. If we play around with the rules now it can open a Pandora's box and the referendum outcome would be ques- tioned," he said. Briguglio pointed out that the elec- torate as defined in the Referendum Act was the same electorate eligi- ble to vote in the general elections, meaning 18-year-olds and older. The former AD chairperson does not exclude that there are voting calculations being made by those who are against changing the proc- ess now, an assumption that was also made by Andrew Azzopardi, senior lecturer on youth and com- munity studies. "Indeed, the government followed its political committment. But then there is the political bickering that victimises young people. I think that the political parties have made their own calculations and saw that there are potentially 10,000 votes that can impact the final result of the referen- dum," he said. Azzopardi argued that the final message sent by the political parties was that they were not truly con- vinced that youths should have a di- rect say in the democratic processes of the country. "Talks of a referendum have been going on for months; the question was only when it would happen. The discussion would have taken place earlier if they truly believed that 16- year-olds should be able to vote in a referendum. But I don't think that the political parties are truly con- vinced about it." Azzopardi said that today's 16-year- olds are the 18-year-olds of 15 years ago and society may not have fully understood how to handle this real- ity. He pointed out that a 16-year-old could legally have his own business, get married and, aged 17, be allowed to drink alcohol. Frustrated at the whole concept, Azzopardi added it also didn't make any sense that a 16-year-old was eli- gible to vote in the local elections but did not enjoy the right to contest the same elections. The debate started last Monday when PN MP Charlo Bonnici, fresh from his recent appointment as hunting spokesman, asked Muscat in parliament whether he would con- sider allowing the 16-year-olds to take part in the referendum. "I know that it is a subject that in- terests youths and since the Prime Minister was talking about the lo- cal council elections when he an- nounced the referendum question, I asked whether the government would be ready to consider that op- tion. It was a question; there was an answer and the issue stopped there," Bonnici told MaltaToday when asked what inspired the proposal now. He added that the Opposition felt that if the Prime Minister had truly wanted to extend the young adults' vote to the referendum, the govern- ment would have started the process earlier. "We have our doubts as to whether Muscat's justification is what truly is stopping this step. Talks of a ref- erendum have been going on since the country was debating when the local elections should be held…he [Muscat] could have proposed then to extend their voting rights." But Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said the government's position was determined by purely legal consid- erations based on the principle of certainty of the law. "The referendum process started with a set of rules, regulating the News Should 16-year-olds vo te in the Now that 16-years-old can vote in the next local council elections, why won't they get the chance to also vote in a referendum on spring hunting that will be decided on the same day, MIRIAM DALLI asks? Clara Grixti Georvin Bugeja "The political parties have made their own calculations and saw that there are potentially 10,000 votes that can impact the final result of the referendum" – Andrew Azzopardi