A court found that in 2013 Edwin Vassallo should have been elected to Parliament. He wasn’t because the Electoral Commission put some of the ballots that would have had him elected in the wrong drawer.
The court agreed this was unfair on Edwin Vassallo and ordered the state to pay him the salary he would have earned as an MP in that legislature had he been given the seat he rightfully won.
It’s about 80 grand which considering this is for a 5-year job (or the portion of that he was kept out of Parliament) is not exactly a treasure. Though I’m sure he’ll be delighted to receive them when he gets them.
I can’t say the country has lost much without Edwin Vassallo in Parliament. He’s an antediluvian bigot who found his mission in life as the third dwarf on Simon Mercieca’s hate-fuelled blog, which is exactly where he should be.
But fortunately, MPs are not chosen by whether I think they deserve the seat. MPs are chosen by voters and for some years Edwin Vassallo’s constituents were frustrated and denied the person they lawfully chose to represent them in Parliament.
It’s ironic that the real victims of the Electoral Commission’s error end up being the ones to pay, as taxpayers, compensation for their suffering. An MP’s salary only has intrinsic value for its recipient. An MP’s seat in Parliament is of value to every person that MP is elected to represent.
The election of Edwin Vassallo is a shadow on our democracy. In this case his non-election is a manifest offence.