Alleanza Bidla yesterday pulled off the unprecedented move of managing to field one candidate in no less than 12 electoral districts, and two candidates in 11 districts.
The move, made yesterday afternoon just before the closing of the nomination period for the upcoming 3 June general election, is reported to have caused a certain degree of consternation at the Electoral Commission but was nevertheless approved.
That is because the gambit is perfectly legal as there is no law limiting the number of districts which a candidate can contest, it had just never happened before as parties limit general election candidates to contesting a maximum of just two districts.
The party’s second feat was to have fielded the oldest ever election candidate. At the age of 87, Saviour (Sonny) Xuereb is the oldest man ever to stand for a general election on behalf of any party. Mr Xuereb is a well-known personality in Rabat and its environs, and he is also the brother of former Acting President of the Republic Paul Xuereb.
Contacted yesterday evening after the 7pm deadline, party leader Ivan Grech Mintoff commented, “This is a bitter sweet moment for us all at Alleanza. Firstly, a very simple technical issue means that we can only contest on 12, and not all 13, districts. The issue was that there was an address written down that did not match one of the nominator’s ID card details.
“We also missed nominating a fourth candidate by no more than two minutes after the 7pm deadline. One of our team who would have contributed much will now not be participating as we would have liked and which we worked so hard for.
“On the other hand, we have shown that we are capable of doing what others thought could not be done.”
Asked how a small party like Alleanza Bidla fits into the grander electoral scheme of things, Mr Grech Mintoff commented, “We have former Nationalists contesting with the Labour Party and former Labourites standing with the Nationalist Party. The PN has become PL and vice versa.
“In effect they are the same party with different leaderships. They have both lost their ideology and replaced it with harmful neo-liberalism instead and frankly, it is frightening to know that you can vote for one and get the other. In their quest for power the leaders of both political parties have completely lost their party’s direction.
“Alleanza Bidla is standing for election because we feel that our country and our people deserve better. The people are lost and confused and there needs to be a strong, moral safety valve which will be in coalition with either PN or PL when one of them finds themselves in the next government.
“We will represent those who are disillusioned with both the PN and the PL and believe that we are capable of preserving our Maltese identity, values and culture (including our Christianity) which both parties seem to have thrown away equally. By standing we will offer the voters a viable alternative to just more of the same. Ultimately, as our electoral slogan states, ‘Ir-Risposta f’idejk’.