Imagine this scenario.

The Labour Party obtains 150,000 votes, the Nationalist Party and Partit Demokratiku together get 145,000 votes, and Alternattiva Demokratika gets 6,000 votes (last time round it got 5,506).

Labour would win the election, and gets to remain in power, in spite of the institutional crisis that developed following the eruption of the Panama Papers scandal and all that brought with it, including two magisterial inquiries involving the Prime Minister and his chief of staff.

And this would happen only because AD chose pride and party interests instead of joining the Forza Nazzjonali team. AD knows full well that the PN-PD coalition was formed to create a stronger opposition to corruption, the same kind of corruption that AD says it is against.

But “says” is the crucial word. There’s a difference between words and action, and AD, once again, chose to say something but not do it.

Now, Labour could win the election with a stronger margin than 6,000 votes, and that would be the end of it. But what if the PN-PD-AD combo gets more votes than Labour? Wouldn’t it be AD’s fault that Labour remains in government?

It would be ironic if Labour continues to run the country in spite of having a majority of people not supporting them. It wouldn’t be the first time, considering what happened in 1981, but this time Labour’s government would be legitimate, and all because of AD.

AD allowed their pride to have the better of them. Instead of seeking the national interest, they showed that they are still smitten by what happened in 2003, in between the EU referendum of March and the April election. That was a full three legislatures ago, and yet AD still hold their grudge against the PN when now they share the same enemy and same belief that Labour should be removed from power.

AD is arguing that they did not accept the conditions laid down by the PN, which were the same offered to PD. Busuttil insisted that AD runs under the PN banner, but AD argued that it would have been better to contest under the Forza Nazzjonali flag, as this could encourage more non-PN people to vote for the coalition. This is a fair argument, but at the same time AD should have put it aside considering the greater good they keep pushing for.

AD has been vocal on the corruption scandals that have rocked the Labour administration since Day 1, but when it came to making a choice, they decided to be selfish. Their refusal to join the PN-PD coalition must have been welcomed with joy at Castille, given that the opposition to Labour remained divided, rather than form a united front.

A vote for AD could be a vote that enables Labour to stay in government.