Urgent request: Parliament must fix the serious issues with the Parliamentary Petitions website

Momentum expresses serious concern and disappointment regarding the usual and frequent technical problems affecting parliamentary petitions posted on the official website of the Parliament of Malta.

The latest petition, which calls for urgent action on excessive noise, water abuse, vandalism, waste issuesa and other problems caused by apartments rented to tourists in residential areas, has collected around 1,500 signatures within 48 hours of its launch, despite many reports of errors from would-be signatories.

Momentum Secretary General Mark Camilleri Gambin said: “Last March, following Momentum’s report to the Ombudsman, Parliament officials acknowledged that there were technical flaws in the online petitions system that were preventing citizens from signing parliamentary petitions. These parliament officials had stated that measures were being taken to remedy the technical issues.

In reality, we citizens continue to be deceived. It seems that nothing has been done to resolve these serious flaws in the system. In truth, it is incredibly easy to fix a simple system such as the petitions system, or even build a new one if necessary. The fact that this has not been done yet indicates an intentional obstruction to undermine the public’s right to participate in democratic processes. These problems raise serious questions about transparency and accountability. It is clear that technical issues are preventing many people from signing the petition.

This is unacceptable, especially when we are talking about issues that directly affect the quality of life for residents.”

Momentum calls on the Speaker’s Office to take immediate action to finally resolve these technical problems and ensure that there are no further technical or administrative obstacles to public participation through the parliamentary portal.

Appell urġenti: Il-Parlament jeħtieġ li jsolvi l-problemi serji fil-website tal-Petizzjonijiet Parlamentari

Momentum jesprimi tħassib u diżappunt serju dwar il-problemi tekniċi tas-soltu u li sikwit jaffettwaw petizzjonijiet parlamentari mtellgħa  fuq il-website uffiċjali tal-Parlament ta’ Malta.

Il-petizzjoni, li titlob azzjoni urġenti dwar l-istorbju eċċessiv, abbuż bl-ilma, vandalizmu, skart fit-triq u problemi oħra minħabba f’appartamenti mikrija lit-turisti f’żoni residenzjali, ġabret madwar 1,500 firma fi żmien 48 siegħa mit-tnedija tagħha, minkejja li ħafna jaffaċjaw errors meta jipprovaw jiffirmaw.

Is-segretarju ġenerali ta’ Momentum, Mark Camilleri Gambin qal: “F’Marzu li għadda, wara r-rapport ta’ Momentum lill-Ombudsman, l-uffiċjali tal-Parlament irrikonoxxew li hemm difetti tekniċi fis-sistema tal-petizzjonijiet online li jostakolaw liċ-ċittadini milli jiffirmaw petizzjonijiet parlamentari. Dawn l-uffiċjali tal-parlament kienu ddikjaraw li kienu qed jittieħdu miżuri biex jiġu rimedjati l-kwistjonijiet tekniċi.

Fir-realtà, lilna ċ-ċittadini ikomplu iqarrqu bina. Jidher li ma sar xejn biex jissolvew dawn id-difetti serji fis-sistemi. Fil-verità  huwa faċli immens li wieħed isewwi sistema sempliċi bħal ma hija dik tal-petizzjonijiet, jew saħansitra jibni waħda ġdida. Il-fatt li dan għadu ma sarx jindika tfixkil intenzjonali biex idgħajjef id-dritt tal-pubbliku li jipparteċipa fi proċessi demokratiċi. Dawn il-problemi jqajmu mistoqsijiet serji dwar it-trasparenza u l-obbligu ta’ kontabiltà. Huwa ċar li l-kwistjonijiet tekniċi jwaqqfu lil ħafna persuni milli jiffirmaw il-petizzjoni.

Dan mhux aċċettabbli, speċjalment meta qegħdin nitkellmu dwar kwistjonijiet li jaffettwaw direttament il-kwalità tal-ħajja tar-residenti.”

Momentum jappella lill-Uffiċċju tal-Ispeaker biex jieħu azzjoni immedjata biex fl-aħħar isolvi dawn il-problemi tekniċi u jiżgura li ma jkun hemm l-ebda ostaklu tekniku jew amministrattiv ieħor li jżomm il-parteċipazzjoni pubblika permezz tal-portal parlamentari.

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