Gozo Civic Council referendum, 1973

Malta

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The Gozo Civil Council (Abolition) Referendum was held in Malta on 11 November 1973. The referendum was facultative and non-binding and only voters registered in Gozo were allowed to vote, and is to date the only non-national referendum to have been held in the country.

Background

Gozo Civic Council had been set up as a statutory local Government in the island of Gozo on 14 April 1961,^[1] the first experiment in civil local government in Malta since the French occupation of 1798-1800. The law authorised the Council to raise taxes, although it never actually made use of this power.

In 1971 the Labour Party was voted into office. As its support in Gozo was weak and it favoured a more centralised administration it proposed a referendum on the abolishment of the Council putting emphasis on the unpopular possibility of it raising taxes.

Question

Do you want Gozo to remain different from Malta, that is, not only having its own representatives in Parliament, chosen from Gozo, but also representatives in the Gozo Civic Council which, amongst other powers, has that of imposing special taxes on the Gozitans to be spent according to the wishes of the people of Gozo?^[2]

Results

Choice	Votes	%
For	137	76.97
Against	41	23.03
Invalid/blank votes	17	–
Total	195	100
Registered voters/turnout	15,621	1.25
Source: Elections in Malta

Outcome

Despite the exceptionally low turnout of just 1.25%, the Government proceeded with its plans to abolish the Gozo Civic Council. Government administration in Gozo was centralised in Valletta and Gozitan affairs became the direct responsibility of the Office of the Prime Minister.

In the mid-1980s attempts were made to set up a Gozo committee, chaired by the Prime Minister and with the Gozitan Members of Parliament as members. However, it was only in 1987 that the Ministry of Gozo was set up (demoted to a Parliamentary Secretariat between 1996 and 1998). Local government in the Gozitan localities was restored with the introduction of Local councils in 1993 with Gozo having 14 councils.

A Gozo Regional Committee was created by Act No. XVI of 2009, and was formally constituted in 2012.^[3]

References

↑ Facsimiles Examples National Archives of Gozo
↑ Referenda in Malta: The Questions and the Voters' Responses Elections in Malta
↑ "Gozo regional Committee formed". Times of Malta. 11 July 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2015.

Elections and referendums in Malta

General elections	1849 1854 1860 1865 1870 1875 1880 1883 1888 1889 1892 1895 1898 1899 1900 1904 (Jan) 1904 (Feb) 1904 (Apr) 1907 1909 1911 1912 1913 1915 1917 1921 1924 1927 1932 1939 1945 1947 1950 1951 1953 1955 1962 1966 1971 1976 1981 1987 1992 1996 1998 2003 2008 2013 next

European elections	2004 2009 2014

Local elections	2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2012 2013 2015

Referendums	1870 1956 1964 2003 2011 2015

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