Michael Briguglio elected Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson – ‘we won’t be in government… but we have our strength’
Charlot Zahra A generational change in Alternattiva Demokratika (AD)’s top positions took place at yesterday’s AGM, when sociologist Michael Briguglio, 34, was elected as the new chairperson, succeeding Arnold Cassola, who resigned after the party’s dismal result in the European Parliament elections in June.
Addressing party members yesterday, Briguglio said: “We are not the Prime Minister, and we will not be in government in the near future. But we have our strength. We have a nice number of votes that give us their support. And that amount might determine the result of a general election. Let’s make good use of that strength.”
The party also elected Ralph Cassar, 35, as the new secretary-general, taking over from Gozitan Victor Galea, who had served in the post for the past five years.
Briguglio, known for his progressive credentials, has already indicated he wants to set out AD as a party with “an ecological and social vision”, beyond the pragmatist approach adopted by his predecessor.
“First of all, social justice,” Briguglio told the party members who gathered at the Juliani Hotel in St Julian’s. “We believe there cannot be progress without a policy that aims at social equality,” he insisted, underlining his leftist credentials.
Equality does not mean that everybody had to be the same, “without any personality.”
“However we believe that every person has the right to benefit from the wealth that is created by society, and everybody should contribute according to his capabilities,” Briguglio declared.
He called for a strengthening of the “welfare state and social Europe. In this respect, we believe in decent public and accessible public services in sectors such as public transport, housing, inclusive education, public health and security in localities.”
The new AD chairperson strongly disagreed with the dismantling of “progressive taxes which finance the welfare state.”
Parallel to this would be AD’s new economic tenets of fighting poverty through material improvement of people. “This means productive employment, decent profit and working conditions for everybody and the promotion of productive investment,” Briguglio explained.
Until two years ago, AD was promoting a rent reform referendum, but failed to collect the necessary signatures.
In his nine-minute speech, Briguglio called for “ecological justice”, in favour of sustainable development, environment protection and animal protection. “We all eat from ecology, but you cannot compromise the same source from which all of us have to drink… climate change is perhaps the biggest challenge that mankind has ever faced.”
However this fight was “an opportunity to create sustainable and well-paid in sectors such as alternative energy,” Briguglio insisted.
The new AD chairperson has put back on the AD agenda the issue of civil rights such as divorce and gay rights, which had been put on the back-burner of the party’s agenda.
“We believe that in a genuinely democratic society, diversity should not only be respected, but should also be celebrated in a context of reciprocal respect. It is not possible that there is a single model of lifestyle which is imposed on everybody else. In the Maltese context, it cannot be possible that rights such as divorce and gay rights continue being thrown under the carpet,” he added.
The other members on AD’s executive committee are Deputy Chairperson Stephen Cachia, Deputy Secretary-General Henrik Piski, Treasurer Simon Galea, International Secretary Arnold Cassola, and Members Carmel Cacopardo, Yvonne Arqueros Ebejer, Mario Mallia, David Pisani, Mark Scerri, Richard Schranz and Nighat Urpani.
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