Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/810144
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 12 APRIL 2017 News 6 Analysis Coalitions and the art of the Politics is the art of the possible, third parties like the PD and AD are no exception. But while the PD seems too keen on gambling its identity by striking a quick deal with the PN, AD seems reluctant to take any risk to fulfil its long standing ambition of winning representation in parliament after three decades in the political wilderness JAMES DEBONO THE greatest obstacle for third parties in their bid to get elected to parliament is the 'wasted vote' problem. This is because the Maltese electoral system ensures that only the first preference vote counts in determining who is elected to form the next govern- ment. It is only those who renounce their power to choose between the lesser of two evils, who vote for a third party. This means that in the ab- sence of a miracle which sees a third party winning some 2,000 first count votes coupled with hundreds of second pref- erences in one particular dis- trict, the only chance for elec- tion to parliament is through a pre-electoral alliance with one of the major parties. In this way all those who want third party representation but who want a say on who gov- erns the country, will suddenly become potential voters for a third party. In this sense Marlene Far- rugia's Democratic Party (PD) can become the automatic choice of those who prefer the PN to the PL in government but would still like to see a third party elected to parliament. What the PN gains from this arrangement are that any votes gained for the PD will not be lost by the PN. Coalition or assimilation? The down side is the compe- tition PN candidates will face by PD candidates in some dis- tricts. While for some the PN's willingness to strike a deal with the PD signifies weakness, it does represent a positive con- tinental evolution in Busuttil 's political thinking, that of seek- ing a coalition with people from a different political culture, rather than simply assemble star candidates united by sheer loyalty towards the leader. Not recognising this would be intellectually dishonest, espe- cially on the part of those who have advocated coalition poli- tics for the past decades. But is the deal between the PN and the PD really a coali- tion? A real coalition would en- tail the formation of a common list with a common name and programme, which is neither PD nor PN. On this aspect the newly formed alliance falls short on this important aspect of coali- tion politics. An ideal solution would have been both parties contesting with a common name. But this would entail the formation of a new party, something required by law- which refers to parties but not to alliances between parties - and which may be very difficult to do in a few months before the general election. Probably it would also repre- sent too much of a qualitative change for the PN's grassroots to accept. The PD has accept- ed to contest on the PN list with its candidates identif ying PN proposes to channel Lands Authority profits YANNICK PACE PROFITS generated by the Lands Authority should not be trans- ferred to the government's con- solidated fund and should instead be transferred to a separate fund where they will be used to pay for longstanding expropria- tions, the Opposition has proposed. "We believe the govern- ment should make an ef- fort to correct injustices that occurred in the past, many of which took place under a Labour govern- ment," Nationalist MP Ryan Callus said yesterday. Callus was s p e a k i n g in Parlia- ment as the p r o p o s e d G o v e r n - m e n t L a n d Act makes its way through the committee stage of the legisla- tive process. He said it was the previous Nationalist government through the work of former dep- uty prime minister Tonio Borg that added the requirement for transactions to be immediately concluded, while stressing that there will still many pending cases. Parliamentary secre- tary for planning Deborah Schem- bri pointed out that the proposed law "contemplates" a Lands Au- thority which has its own bank ac- count and is able to receive its own funding, adding that discussions were ongoing with the finance ministry to determine how much of its profit will be kept by the au- thority with the rest being trans- ferred to the consolidated fund. "I agree that the aim is a good one, and I praise Tonio Borg's very necessary work however we can't be myopic in our vision and as- sume that the money the authority makes is only needed for expropri- ations," she said. According to Schembri, the au- thority is often faced with requests for the renovation and conserva- tion of historical buildings, among other expenses, and it is unrealis- tic to expect all profits to be used to pay off expropriations. "I can assure you, however, that there are ongoing discussions with the ministry of finance for the money that does not go to the con- solidated fund to be used to pay off expropriations," she added. The opposition stated that it disagreed that citizens who have appealed a case contesting an ex- propriation, must be given a deci- sion within six months rather than four. Callus argued that it is difficult to impose timeframes on adjudica- tors and questioned what remedies would be available to people at law in situations where a decision is not handed down within the given time period. Schembri pointed out that the previous administration had passed a number of laws which required a decision within four months, adding that the courts were aware of imposed time frames. Moreover, she said that if the law states that a decision must be handed down within six months, any delay would consti- tute a breach of one's fundamental human right. Regarding the right for authori- ties to enter a property once it has been announced that it is to be requisitioned, and this has not been contested, the government proposed an amendment that would see authorities take this ac- tion immediately, rather than fol- lowing a 14-day period as the law currently stands. Callus argued that rather than being removed, this should be in- creased to 60 days, and accused the government of working to be able to kick anyone out of a property whenever it wanted. However, Schembri pushed back against these claims and pointed out that as things stand, in cases where land has been deemed to be of public interest, the government has the right to evict tenants im- mediately. "Previously, in evictions taking place for public interest, the per- son would have had to leave imme- diately because government takes over immediately. 14 days were given in order for there to be some time before the property is taken but this was superseded by the PN MP Ryan Callus argued that it is time for the money to be used to pay back past expropriations Marlene Farrugia and Simon Busuttil sealed the pact with a handshake last week