L-Unjoni Ewropea teħtieġ qies effettiv u ġust dwar ir-rispett tas-saltna tad-dritt

L-eks Prim Ministru Alfred Sant astjena fil-voti kollha inkluż fil-vot finali dwar ir-riżoluzzjoni dwar il-liġi elettorali u s-saltna tad-dritt fil-Polonja. Waqt li kien qed jindirizza l-plenarja tal-Parlament Ewropew huwa nnota li fil-Polonja, l-istat attwali tal-liġi elettorali u l-mekkaniżmi demokratiċi tagħha huma estremament diżappuntanti. “Il-liġi elettorali attwali tirrappreżenta nuqqas ta’ rispett għal kwalunkwe standard demokratiku u tfixkel lil l-oppożizzjoni milli taqdi l-irwol tagħha b’mod demokratiku”.

Il-Kap tad-delegazzjoni Laburista fil-Grupp tas-Soċjalisti u d-Demokratiċi fil-Parlament Ewropew Alfred Sant saħaq li l-monitoraġġ tal-liġi elettorali u tal-mekkaniżmi demokratiċi għandu jsir permezz ta’ proċeduri oġġettivi u preċiżi mingħajr ebda forma ta’ influwenza politika. Filwaqt li nnota li l-Unjoni Ewropea ma rnexxilhiex tibqa’ oġġettiva fuq din il-kwistjoni, hu appella biex b’mod demokratiku u ħieles minn kull kalkolu politiku, tiġi żviluppata sorvelja xierqa tal-proċeduri segwiti waqt elezzjonijiet Ewropej ħalli jiżguraw li dawn ikunu tassew demokratiċi u trasparenti.

Wara dibattitu f’Ġunju, il-Membri Parlamentari Ewropej tennew it-tħassib qawwi tagħhom dwar is-saltna tad-dritt fil-Polonja, fir-rigward tal-liġi elettorali riċenti u t-twaqqif ta’ kummissjoni biex trażżan l-indħil barrani. Il-Membri Parlamentari Ewropej irrimarkaw fost oħrajn li l-kamra tal-Qorti Suprema Pollakka responsabbli għat-tilwim elettorali ma tistax titqies bħala qorti indipendenti u imparzjali.

L-Ewroparlamentari Laburista Alfred Sant sostna li l-valutazzjoni ta’ ksur tas-saltna tad-dritt mhux dejjem ikun daqshekk ovvju. Fid-dawl ta’ dan, ippropona li l-evalwazzjonijiet demokratiċi għandhom iqisu ċerti kriterji qabel jagħtu xi ġudizzju dwar kif pajjiż għandu jitqies dwar iż-żamma minnu tas-saltna tad-dritt. Il-kriterji għandhom jinkludu d-daqs tiegħu, l-influwenza tal-midja, u l-pożizzjonijiet politiċi li jieħu.

Fl-intervent finali tiegħu Alfred Sant sostna li l-Unjoni Ewropea għad fadlilha triq twila biex tikseb evalwazzjonijiet oġġettivi u ġusti tal-proċessi demokratiċi u valutazzjonijiet tas-saltna tad-dritt.

Ir-Riżoluzzjoni ġiet adottata b’472 vot favur, 136 kontra u 16-il astensjoni.

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The European Union needs objective and fair rule of law evaluations

Former Prime Minister Alfred Sant abstained on all votes including the final vote regarding the resolution on the electoral law and the rule of law in Poland. Addressing the plenary of the European Parliament he noted that in Poland, the state of play of the electoral law and its democratic mechanisms are extremely disappointing. “The recent electoral law represents a lack of respect for any democratic standards and a silencing of democratic opposition”.

The Head of the Labour S&D delegation Alfred Sant stressed that the monitoring of electoral law and democratic mechanisms should be carried out through objective and accurcate procedures without any form of political influence. While noting that the European Union has not managed to stay objective on this issue, he called for a democratic and apolitical monitoring of European electoral procedures to maintain democratic and transparent elections.

Following a debate in June, MEPs reiterated their strong concerns about the state of the rule of law in Poland, in relation to the recent electoral law and the establishment of a commission to combat foreign interference. MEPs pointed out among others that the chamber of the Polish Supreme Court responsible for electoral disputes cannot be considered an independent and impartial court.

Labour MEP Alfred Sant claimed that assessing breaches of the rule of law may not always be so obvious. To this end, he proposed that democratic evaluations should take into account certain criteria before identifying the country’s place in the rule of law scrutiny. The latter should include its size, media influence, or where its government stands.

In his final remarks Alfred Sant argued that the European Union has still a long way to go to achieve objective and fair evaluations of democratic processes and rule of law assessments.

The Resolution was adopted with 472 votes in favour, 136 against and 16 abstentions.