A symbolic stroll down Republic Street, Valletta, yesterday took Alternattiva Demokratika’s top officials to the doorstep of the President’s Palace, where chairperson Harry Vassallo expressed his optimism that Malta will finally get its promised “new way of doing politics” after next Saturday.
“We’re on the doorstep of Parliament,” chairperson Harry Vassallo said, adding that AD was confident it would elect “one or more” MPs in this election.
Rebutting criticism levelled at AD by the Nationalist Party, Vassallo insisted that a third party in Parliament would itself be a guarantee of stability for government. “The situation as it is today, with two parties in Parliament, is what is causing stagnation in the country. We can remove the stagnation from Maltese politics,” he said.
Asked whether he was concerned that a prolonged vote count would create tension and uncertainty in the country, Vassallo shook his head.
“On the contrary. Tension and uncertainty are caused by our ‘winner takes all’ mentality. What we would like is a situation where the election result is announced by a PBS journalist, instead of by the sound of horns and three days of mayhem. We want to see an end to the idea that one side wins everything, and then its supporters celebrate by taunting and provoking the losing side. This is what causes problems. Our presence in parliament will be a guarantee of progress towards a more civilised political environment.”