The Electoral Commission has responded to allegations over electoral irregularities which emerged in a court application filed by a whistleblower on Tuesday, saying that it is ready to cooperate on any investigation that may be opened.
In a short statement, the Electoral Commission took note of the allegations made by a former Labour Party activist in a court application as part of a corruption case centred around the top officials at Transport Malta.
The activist turned whistleblower claimed knowledge of kickbacks in an illegal identity and citizenship scheme. Maltese citizens of foreign nationality, it was alleged, were not issued with a death certificate upon their demise, but instead were transferred onto other naturalised persons with the intention of having them vote for Labour.
Adel Ali Hassan claimed his residence permit was revoked in October 2021 after having refused to assist the then-minister responsible for identity and citizenship, Alex Muscat, in his electoral campaign for 2022.
The Electoral Commission clarified that it has nothing to do with the issuing of identity cards, but said that it was closely following the case and the allegations and that it is willing to cooperate in any investigation or procedure which may be opened on the case.
PN, PL statements
The PN said that the Electoral Commission's statement that it has nothing to do with the issuing of identity cards, "shows the PL's lies when the party had wrongly said that the Electoral Commission and the political party representatives have scrutiny over this process."
"The PN holds that the Electoral Commission has to have access to this process, and that there needs to be an investigation on what has been alleged.
The PL, meanwhile, said that the PN has been trying to sell "invented stories tied to elections for years, and nobody believed them, and nobody will believe them."
It said that the PN has a problem accepting a legitimate verdict. It said the PN has a career of trying to build its politics on allegations that have no basis.