Over 5,400 residents have signed a petition requesting that ADPD The Green Party leader is granted a parliamentary seat, the party said Saturday.

Following the last general election, a group of concerned citizens started a petition to demand that Sandra Gauci be granted a parliamentary seat on the basis of the votes she obtained in that election.

Although the petition has no legal standing, a spectrum of signatories have chosen to put their name to it and over 5,400 have signed the petition to date.

In the May 2026 election, ADPD Chairperson Sandra Gauci earned the trust of 513 first-preference voters and rose to 950 votes in the 12th District. Yet under Malta's so-called "gender quota" system, she is being shut out while unelected PL and PN candidates with far less public support are being handed seats in Parliament.

"This is not equality. This is political discrimination. A vote for Sandra Gauci should not count less simply because she did not wear a red or blue badge. A voter should not be punished for choosing outside the two-party system," the party said.

Malta deserves real democracy, not a system that protects the same two parties while silencing independent voices and smaller parties.

The petitioners demanded that Parliament and the Electoral Commission end this injustice and reform the system immediately.

The petition insisted "Every vote must carry the same weight"

"Respect the voters. Respect democracy. Give Sandra Gauci her seat," concluded the petition.

ADPD noted that the gender adjustment mechanism was introduced as an addendum to an already discriminatory electoral system. An overhaul of the electoral system is long overdue to ensure that electoral results are both proportional and reflect gender balance.

ADPD has drawn the attention of the Constitutional Convention that it is useless to patch our electoral system: a major overhaul is required. This is the only way to democratise our electoral system, ensuring that every vote has equal weight, the party said.