Following on Arnold Cassola’s spectacular 9.3 per cent result in the European Parliament elections in 2004 the Green Party caught the public eye like never before. It is not surprising that the reported 1.7 per cent average for the Greens in the 2005 local council elections causes dismay in some quarters and relief in others. We have some explaining to do – particularly, why the Greens continue to keep their calm, perhaps irritatingly so.

Unlike the general public, which is given party averages in local elections across all 23 elections, Greens are able to view things in greater detail and with greater serenity. Our reported average in the 2004 local council elections taking place on the same day as the EP elections was 1.5 per cent. Nobody seemed to notice because of the apparently earthshaking 9.3 per cent polled by Arnold Cassola.

In fact the 1.5 per cent reported was as deceptive as the 1.7 per cent reported for the Greens in 2005. The percentage average for the Green in the 2004 local council election in the localities contested was 6.8 per cent, significantly less that the 9.3 per cent in the EP election but much better than the official average percentage reported over a large number of localities Greens did not contest. No newspaper reported the Greens’ 6.8 per cent average in the 2004 local council elections.

In the same way, the official reported average of 1.7 per cent for 2005 is produced over the 21 localities and not only the ones contested by AD where the average was 5.2 per cent. In the elections contested in the same localities in the round of 2002, the AD average was 5.4 per cent or a tenth of a percentage point less.

The AD percentages on the localities contested are Pembroke 7.7 per cent, L-Iklin 7.5 per cent, St Paul’s Bay 6.7 per cent, St Julian’s 5.9 per cent, Mellieha 3.3 per cent and Nadur 2.7 per cent.

Every instance deserves analysis and a simple average is as deceptive as a national average over a host of elections where we were not present. Mark Causon’s result in Pembroke seems spectacular when in fact it is a drop from 9.3 per cent in 2002. Nobody celebrated the 2002 Pembroke result and nobody need mourn too greatly now. The turnout drop from 75 per cent to 68 per cent in this Labour dominated locality may explain much of the change.

The apparent reduction of Green support in St Julian’s from 7.1 per cent in 2002 to 5.9 per cent in 2005 records a similar phenomenon but in a PN dominated locality, a turnout dropping from 62 per cent to 54 per cent. In 2002 AD was in harness with the other pro-EU party and benefited from the absence of a PN campaign directed against the Greens. In this election, we appear to have suffered as did our former allies from the election exhaustion and, additionally, from the disaffection of some who were dismayed to find that we took our role as an opposition party seriously. At 22 years of age Faye Palmqvist was our youngest candidate in this election and a very welcome addition with a bright future ahead.

Nadur was a bitter disappointment because we had not reckoned with the special effect of the extraordinary turnout produced by an excellent PN mayor, Chris Said, whose performance in the locality turned the tide for the PN with an exceptional 81 per cent turnout. This had nothing to do with EU disaffection or otherwise. It was the first time we contested in this locality for many years and Toni Falzon was penalised despite the superb efforts of his campaign team. The Greens’ Gozo Regional Committee will live to fight another day. They have won their spurs in this difficult fight and will deliver in 2006.

L-Iklin was a locality contested for the first time and the 7.5 per cent result is all the merit of Franco Pisani who scoured the district establishing a firm Green presence which he will consolidate through constant commitment until success in the next round.

Mellieha was an improvement on the previous performance in 2002 from 2.7 per cent to 3.3 per cent. It is still way below average with various factors explaining both results in this district. Canvassing and personal contact was weak: too little too late. Mellieha Greens deserve better from AD and this is the second time we have let them down. Mea culpas apart, it is clear that we have to pull our socks up in this locality.

In St Paul’s Bay Carmel Hili came within a whisker of getting elected with a just 6.7 per cent. He was just 25 votes short of the prize and only a fluke in vote transfers allowed the last PN candidate to get in ahead of him. His campaigning was excellent and the near miss has only added to his energies. He will be taking up core responsibilities with the Greens nationally and renewing his efforts on his home patch.

Contrary to what the leading article stated, it is not only Arnold Cassola and I who can achieve creditable results for the Greens. Mario Mallia, deputy chairperson, is a councillor on Birkirkara while his former executive committee colleagues James Camilleri and Michael Briguglio are on the Lija and Sliema councils respectively. Benji Psaila was elected to Swieqi local council in 2004 without serving in the executive committee.

James Camilleri put Arnold Cassola in the shade as long ago as 2003 taking his seat on the council with 19 per cent of his neighbours’ votes or twice the percentage achieved by Arnold. The minutiae of local council elections pass unnoticed and James’ resounding success was tucked away in a 1.2 per cent reported national average for AD, diluted as usual over a large number of councils we did not contest.

It was the same year that our general election result was 0.7 per cent. A few weeks before our local council election results were 1.2 per cent as officially reported and diluted and 6.8 per cent over the contested localities. There is much more to any election than just the official results and a mere glance at the averages does not give any reliable indication of actual performance nor of the future.

We have no reason to be smug about the 2005 election results and the main positive result has been to wake up all our active supporters to do much more to achieve the results they want to deliver.

The editorial’s criticism of Alternattiva Demokratika being perceived as an environment-only party is a fact. It is public perception and a matter we must address. However, it is not a matter of becoming more like our rivals but of communicating our vision, our different way of looking at the reality we all live in.

The environment is not a separate chapter of our lives. Greens do nothing by the pigeonhole method. What we have to communicate is the interconnectedness of everything. Maghtab is not only an environmental problem, it is a health problem as well as a threat to our tourism industry and the employment it provides, an economic problem.

Addressing the rent law problem is not only a matter of saving the countryside from further unsustainable development but also a matter of reining in skyrocketing property prices which pressure wages to unsustainability and inflate the price of every service on offer including tourism. It is, first and foremost, an issue of social justice.

We may seem to be talking about the environment but in fact we are talking about the danger of pushing ourselves beyond the reach of our markets, of creating unemployment by irrational exuberance over property prices, of unbearable stress within families. We do talk of health, education, transport, fuel prices, pensions and family law. Some newspaper editors complain that we speak about too many things.

On the matter of fielding more prominent personalities, recruitment is never easy. Our rivals have enormous difficulties in finding them while we make even greater demands of our own candidates who have no guarantee of success. This has acted as a filter on all levels attracting candidates who have no ambitions linked to personal gain or a career in a mega-party.

It has sometimes been suggested to us to adopt some political refugee and ride the prominence he had attained with some other party. It is not an option for AD, which cannot afford to lose its reputation. We have no corruption or violence skeletons in our cupboard and we want to keep this enviable position. On the other hand, we are a party designed to provoke alliances. We can work with everyone, if they can work with us.

We are far from satisfied with the results obtained in this election. In many ways we have failed. We have certainly failed to communicate with the growing number of people who opt out of elections and this is particularly of concern to Greens. Although our 5.2 per cent average appears to make us a critical element with regard to the next general election, we know that it could quite easily be significantly greater.

The change we want to bring about has been postponed for decades because of political stagnation.

It is not enough for us to be a critical element in the political chess game. We must make the change happen. We want and need all the help of those who share our aspirations.

Dr Vassallo is Chairperson of Alternattiva Demokratika –

The Green Party

www.alternattiva.org.mt