Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi should apologise to the Maltese people for the anti-democratic way in which the Nationalist Party has acted against 13,000 residents of Zejtun and Marsa who have been denied the right to vote in the local council elections on 12 March, the Malta Labour Party has said in a statement.

The MLP also challenged the PN to say what led to such a decision.

The PN withdrew two candidates from each locality, which means that there are sufficient candidates to fill the council seats and there is therefore no need for an election.

Among those who have been denied the right to vote are Nationalist Party supporters who live in these two localities. Dr Gonzi did not show any respect towards his own supporters. What is important is that on 12 March the PN do not receive another big electoral defeat, as happened last June in the EP and local council elections.

The MLP said that last year the PN had accused the MLP of resorting to the law courts to remove people who had lost the right to vote from the electoral register. This in itself was a hypocritical move because the PN had often taken such a stand.

But it is even more hypocritical now because of the action taken regarding the Zejtun and Marsa councils. Today, the PN is denying 13,000 people the right to vote for purely partisan reasons.

A statement issued by PN general secretary Joe Saliba on 12 January 2004 said that the MLP had tried to deny people the right to vote rather than win them over with good arguments. Today, Mr Saliba was doing the same thing in Marsa and Zejtun, two localities which were Labour strongholds.

Mr Saliba had also said that the MLP was trying to reduce the people’s participation in elections. Today, the PN was doing the same thing, the MLP said.

Mr Saliba had also said that whoever believes in democracy should see that more people participate in elections. Taking the same argument, what the PN was doing today is going against democracy, the MLP said.