Malta
6 July 2005 - Ratification in the Maltese parliament.
Twelfth country that ratifies the EU Constitution
27 June 05 - latest update from Kevin Ellul Bonici:
Although the Maltese PM has been hammering at his intention to ratify the Constitution through Parliament, he has also stated that he would prefer to have the opposition Labour Party in agreement for a unanimous vote(he had already postponed ratification due to Labour's postponement on the vote in November 2004)
Although the Labour Party leadership, led by Alfred Sant, has pronounced itself in favour of the Constitution and its ratification, the issue is far from settled. The final vote that would determine whether Labour is in favour or not will be taken at the party's General Conference starting on 30 June and concluding 3 July. Many of the 900 delegates are said to be against the Cosntitution, with a faction publicly uttering its disapproval at the leadership's U-turn. The outcome is still open and the battle is
fierce.
If the Labour Conference votes No, then the Labour opposition cannot vote in favour in parliament and it is not known what the prime minister would then do - whether to move on and call Labour "eurosceptics" , or decide to postpone in view of his earlier pronouncements. The former would be expected, but eurosceptism at party level would survive in Malta.
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The Prime Minister has already ruled out a referendum. The constitutions provides the possibility to hold a binding referendum. But the political will is lacking.
Following Malta’s close referendum result in favour of accession to the EU in March 2003, the government has ruled out a referendum on the EU Constitution, claiming there is no legal basis for such a move. The Socialist party will decide their position on this issue in January, while the Labour Party, which contains some influential Eurosceptics, will vote on the Constitution at their conference in the same month. The EU Constitution threatens the traditionally neutral Maltese Constitution as it demands a policy actively in favour of militarization. Should the latter vote in favour of document, further campaigning in Malta is useless. If they vote against, the Labour party will press for a required two-thirds majority for ratification, or a referendum. While a referendum would be more likely to lead to Malta’s vetoing the Constitution, it will be more difficult to attain than an agreement on a two-thirds majority.
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