The article published last Sunday titled “Labour Party president did not cast his ballot in crucial EU Constitution vote” (TMIS 10/07/05), the author of which remains unidentified, was nothing but a clear attempt to misinterpret the Party’s Statute and, consequently, to try to discredit me with the party delegates and activists.
The reasons for this are as follows:
The Statute’s Standing Orders in Section 14 which provides for voting in relation to motions states the following:
“Barra minn fejn hu specifikat mod iehor fir-Regolamenti u/jew fl-Istatut tal-Partit, il-votazzjoni waqt Konferenza Generali ghandhom isiru bil-wiri ta’ l-idejn barra meta c-Chairman jew ghoxrin delegat jew aktar, jitolbu li ssir sigrieta. Fil-kaz ta’ l-Ezekuttiv Nazzjonali, vot sigriet jintalab mic-Chairman jew minn membru wiehed. Fejn hu mehtieg skond ir-regolamenti jew meta c-Chairman jidhirlu, ghandu jitlob nominazzjonijiet ta’ numru, skond ma jidhirlu hu, ta’ scrutineers jew tellers. Ic-Chariman m’ghandux jivvota fuq ebda kwistjoni, izda meta l-voti favur jew kontra jkunu ugwali huwa jkollu l-casting vote”
“Unless specified otherwise by the regulations and or in the Party Statute, voting during a General Conference should be carried out by a show of hands unless the chairman or not less than twenty delegates request a secret ballot. In the case of the National Executive, a secret ballot may be requested by the Chairman or by one member. In the cases established by the regulations or when the Chairman deems fit, the Chairman shall request the nomination of a number of tellers, which number is to be established at the Chairman’s discretion. The Chairman shall not vote on any issue, yet in the case of a tie, the Chairman shall have a casting vote.”
Thus, it is amply clear that once the general conference elected me as chairman, I was duty bound not to cast my vote, in order to comply with the above quoted standing order.
The sources that were quoted in your article were incorrect when they stated that the Chairman may cast his vote in the case of a secret ballot. The above indicated standing order is clear, categorical and unequivocal. It clearly states that the Chairman may not vote on any issue other than in case of a tie irrespective of whether the vote is by means of a show of hands or by a secret ballot.
The said article completely omitted my statement given to your reporter Charlot Zahra, wherein I declared unconditionally that my non-participation in the vote was solely as a result of the standing order and by no means did I intend to abstain from casting my vote. Had the party’s statute read otherwise, I would have gladly cast my vote. It is, thus, highly unethical and unprofessional on your paper’s part to publish the so called report in a manner clearly intended to conjure up a suspect motive which I never entertained.
Furthermore, may I point out, that I never intended to hide the fact that I did not cast my vote, so much so that I had previously informed MLP Administration members, namely Louis Gatt, Jason Micallef and Joe Mifsud, that I would not be casting my vote in the light of the above quoted standing order.
On a final note, I fail to understand the relevance of your sources’ reference to my father’s contribution in CNi during the referendum campaign and his constant and continuous participation within the party’s structure in connection with this story. This in my books smacks of gutter reporting.
On a final note, I wish to point out, that my loyalty to the Party, the General Conference that elected me as President, to party delegates and activists is unconditional. So as long as I shall carry the responsibilities of this post, I shall act, with integrity, to the best of my abilities and in the best interests of the party as I have always done from the day I became a member of the party.