Alternattiva Demokratika will be fielding a woman candidate along with party chairperson Arnold Cassola for the European Parliament elections next June.
Mother-of-three Yvonne Ebejer Arqueros, 43, was approved at the party’s annual general meeting yesterday in St Julian’s.
Ebejer Arqueros is a teacher of personal social development in the primary sector, and has worked in the voluntary sector with Appoġġ and with Dar it-Tama.
“It is important that more and more people, including the 23,000 who voted for AD in 2004, to realise that AD in the European Parliament can work more effectively to defend the interests of all those who believe in a social Europe and in a greener Europe. Ad will insist on issues the others neglect,” Ebejer Arqueros said.
Arnold Cassola is an associate professor in comparative literature at the University of Malta. In 1999 he was elected secretary-general of the European Green Party, the only non-EU citizen to achieve this post. In 2004, Cassola received 23,000-odd first count votes, coming sixth after the five MEPs elected to Brussels.
Cassola yesterday said the global financial crisis and the price of fuel and food was affecting everyone. “These problems, together with increasing pollution and climate change, demand strong political leadership. AD has been asking for investment in renewable and clean energy for the past 19 years. They used to make fun of us for making such proposals. Now these same people are repeating our words.”
He criticised the latest move by government to increase tariffs on utilities. “What is worrying however is the brash and savage way in which the Nationalist government is going to increase water and electricity bills. The proposals are socially regressive – those who use less will see a heftier increase than those who waste. Where is the logic in this? Where is the justice in such proposals?”
“All this is happening because of years of neglect. George Pullicino, Tonio Fenech and Austin Gatt’s attitude is unacceptable. They too are responsible for the government’s neglect. All this shows that Lawrence Gonzi’s promises prior to the elections were just hot air. “AD reiterates its call for real dialogue and proper long term planning.”

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