What were your main reasons for contesting these elections for the European Parliament and how did the idea come about?

This is not something which came up now. I have been a member of Alternattiva Demokratika, which I co-founded, for 15 years and European affairs were always my speciality and interest. I have been working since 1990 as the Maltese delegate in the Green Party and in recent years I have also been quite actively involved in European politics through my position as Secretary General of the European Greens in the EP. Now that Malta has finally joined the EU, it is the logical step to take.

After having worked so hard for Malta to join the EU, what is your opinion on this first campaign for election to the European Parliament?

This is a totally different campaign for us and we are getting an incredible response from all sectors of society. This is reflected by the panic in the Nationalist Party that we will be siphoning off votes. The Prime Minister mounts an attack on a daily basis, which more often than not is a concoction of tales and inventions. It is clear that this is a scaremongering campaign so that people do not vote for AD. This is not a do or die election since the European Parlaiment is made up of seven or eight parties where no-one has the majority. The big parties need the support of the smaller groups like the Greens to get a majority and pass any law in the EP. We are getting a tremendous boost from the PN’s unashamedly devious attitude, which is increasing our following for these elections.

Who is Arnold Cassola? Do you see yourself as an environmentalist and as a person with huge experience in European affairs in the European Parliament?

My main advantage over other candidates is the vast experience I already have and my extensive contacts with all political parties in the EP. Ironically, I have an excellent working relationship with both the Socialist and the Popular Party secretary generals and also with those of the Liberal and Regional Parties since we have worked together on various issues for the past four years. It will take the new Maltese MEPs at least a year to cement their contacts and working relationships, so in that area I do feel that I have an edge over the other contestants.

What does your campaign consist of? Is it a grassroots or a media campaign? The large constituency involved does not lend the campaign to be an individually based, person to person experience. What are your views on this situation?

My campaign consists mainly of meeting groups such as NGOs and institutions, environmental companies, business communities, groups in people’s homes. People are organising meetings three or four times a week where I can meet around 30-40 people to explain my views. The media is very important but obviously I am out of NET Television (only one appearance thanks to Joe Grima) and have appeared only once on Super 1. The only station is basically Smash TV and, due to the policy decided on by the Broadcasting Authority my name cannot be mentioned on PBS news bulletins. This is a result of the problems concerning the candidates of the large parties who are squabbling among themselves. This has resulted in a policy being imposed where nobody can be mentioned on PBS news. This is disadvantageous to me as my party is united behind me although I’m not complaining!

The environment is a key issue in this campaign and we have lately seen the rising importance of such issues as waste disposal, Maghtab and pollution. Do you think this election has finally brought these long outstanding issues to the forefront of the debate, having been kept on the backburner for far too long?

First of all we are happy that the other parties are now waking up to the importance of the environment. However we are very worried as the popular parties only vote for 26 per cent of environmental issues compared to the 99 per cent of the Greens in the European Parliament. We wonder how two MEPs in a 280 MEP group can influence a policy that is so negative to the environment. As regards Malta however, we have lots of environmental clean-ups to carry out, solid waste, liquid waste and other issues such as air and sea quality. These clean-ups can be used to create new jobs and promote investment in this period of economic slump. Work and the environment go hand in hand and this is no myth. In Germany for example, there are over one and a half million jobs in the environment, which is 3.8 per cent of the workforce. In the last five years alone, 120,000 jobs were created in the environmental sector in Germany and we should aim for at least four per cent of our workforce to be employed in this sector.

Which are the committees in which you would like to serve in the European Parliament?

I am deeply interested in the Environmental and Foreign Affairs Committee. The foreign affairs area is one of the most important issues as Malta is the fifth neutral country in the EU. It is clear that the EU has serious failings in this area and this was starkly revealed in the Iraq War where we saw Socialists (Tony Blair) aligning themselves with popular parties (Aznar, Berlusconi) in favour of the illegal wae. We, the Greens, allied ourselves with Chirac and Balladur (PPE) and the Pope against the war.. As Greens we have already convinced the whole Parliament to promote negotiation and diplomacy as such measures can avoid and prevent a lot of conflicts.

And your final message to the

electorate?

The Nationalist Party has embarked on a scaremongering campaign and the Prime Minister, in particular, is out to scare the people by telling them that they should not experiment. With Cassola you don’t experiment, Cassola has been around for 27 years and in politics for 15 years. People know who I am and what I stand for. This is not a national election where the winner takes all, this is an election where there is no majority, and the winning parties need the support of small groups such as the Greens. The Greens are going to be there in the European Parliament with or without Malta. The Greens have 50 votes in the EP and without them, 50 per cent of the laws do not pass. Does Malta want an MEP in the Green lobby to influence those 50 votes? I believe it is worth taking the chance.