Former PN front-liner Carmel Cacopardo yesterday confirmed he had resigned his membership of the Nationalist Party and has been appointed the green party Alternattiva Demokratika’s spokesman for sustainable development.
Between 1990 and 1997, Mr Cacopardo occupied the posts of information secretary, deputy secretary general and even president of the party’s administrative council. At the time, the post of PN secretary general was occupied by Investment, Industry and IT Minister Austin Gatt.
Mr Cacopardo unsuccessfully contested the 1987, 1992 and 1996 elections on behalf of the PN and also formed part of the PN executive committee for 12 years.
AD made the announcement about Mr Cacopardo’s appointment in a statement yesterday afternoon, saying that the three times Nationalist candidate had a lot of experience in planning, land use and politics.
Contacted for comment, Mr Cacopardo, a former investigating officer at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa), said that for the time being he preferred not to give details of the letter of resignation he had sent to PN secretary general Joe Saliba.
However he admitted that this has been coming for about a year now and the reason he had resigned his membership of the PN had become public knowledge.
In fact, he has been making appearances on behalf of AD for quite some time. He was the subject of controversy when Andrew Calleja, chairman of the board of Mepa, justified his refusal to renew Mr Cacopardo’s contract with the Mepa audit office because Mr Cacopardo had chaired an AD meeting, though his being a PN front-liner when he was first appointed Mepa investigative officer had not worked against him.
Mr Cacopardo, 51, obtained a degree in architecture and civil engineering from the University of Malta in 1982 and another degree in sustainability and environmental management from the University of Staffordshire in 2006.
In November 2006, he published a book by the name of Time for Radical Change, presenting the results of his research about eco-contribution and environmental taxation in Malta.
AD chairman Harry Vassallo said: “Mr Cacopardo’s direct contribution will strengthen AD’s efforts to bring about change. We view politics as a service and we want to bring about change in the way policies are made.
“We will continue to emphasise the importance of long-term planning by means of which economic development can go hand-in-hand with people’s health and quality of life.
“Mr Cacopardo’s experience will complement the experience of AD’s other spokesmen, candidates, councillors and activists and certainly means a strengthening of Alternattiva Demokratika’s position as Malta’s third party.”
Mr Cacopardo is expected to address his first media conference as AD spokesman for sustainable development on Saturday.