James Debono
Five years ago, Alternattiva Demokratika appealed to voters to vote “for country, not for party” and to elect Arnold Cassola to the European Parliament.
Their mainstream platform exploited widespread sympathy from Nationalist voters for its contribution to persuade voters to accept EU membership, and Arnold Cassola was rewarded by the vote of a tenth of the electorate.
Five years later they called people to “think big and vote Green”, but AD has been rewarded by just one in every 50 voters. What has gone wrong?
It seems some people were turned off by Cassola’s takeover of AD and contesting these elections after failing to get re-elected in the Italian parliament, his former seat of office when he was elected on Romano Prodi’s list of Italian expats.
And while in 2004 AD was upbeat following its historical role in securing EU membership, AD was already demoralised by last year’s miserable 1.3% score.
The writing was already on the wall in March 2008 when AD’s attempt to replicate its 2004 result by trying to lure in the moderate Nationalist vote, and hinting at a possible coalition vote, failed miserably.
And while in 2004 the PN tried to vanquish AD’s chances by launching a frontal attack on AD using the old abortion card, this time around the PN decided to ignore AD completely.
Chinese torture proved far more an effective strategy for the PN than a frontal attack that would have ultimately made the greens more visible and even a viable option for disgruntled voters.
But a more fundamental reason for yesterday’s failure could be that on many issues, AD found itself running with hares while chasing with the hounds. Arnold Cassola was rational and moderate in all the debates, but still he failed to leave an impression on the popular imagination.
Undecided on whether to appeal for the moderate or the radical vote, on civil liberties AD did not come across as any more progressive than Labour, which this time appealed directly to the gay vote.
Ironically by being the only party to take a principled, albeit moderate, stand on immigration, AD – unlike Labour – was definitely not in synch with the popular mood. And the fact that AD ended up running neck to neck with Norman Lowell for third place makes defeat a bitter pill to swallow.
AD’s miserable showing in these elections raises the question on whether the 20-year-old party has a future. If AD fails to elect any councillor in next week’s election, the party seems destined to extinction.
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