From Mr A. Gauci Cunningham
I have to admit to finding AD a very “brave” political movement. They have taken tough stands on issues like divorce, the environment, hunting and gay issues, all of which I feel very strongly about.
Let’s face it, both the PN and the MLP have quite shamelessly looked the other way when these issues have come up for fear of losing their “traditional” voters. So let’s give credit where it’s due and admit that the AD has all the approval we can give them when it comes to bringing these issues to the front burner.
Will they get my vote?
The answer is no!
Why? Because the situation as it is (not as many would like it to be) is so in favour of the two main political parties that any, and I repeat any, party that gets as much as one single vote more than the 50 per cent mark automatically gets the majority of parliamentary seats (at least a one seat majority).
All this renders an extra seat for the AD nothing more than a seat and definitely not a coalition, which means that a coalition is next to impossible in the current scenario.
Does AD know this? Yes.
Then why on earth does it persist in writing and saying that it will form a coalition? Is it an act of desperation? Desperation my foot! The word “coaltion” is AD’s only salvation and hope for it to achieve some tangible results after years in the political wilderness, which brings me to last Monday’s edition of Bondiplus.
It was amply clear that AD spokesman Mr Mallia was shocked by Clyde Puli’s statement that the PN will not form an alliance with AD and if any confirmation was needed, we had Harry Vassallo telling us how “fundamentalist” Mr Puli’s comments were and how the Nationalists are spitting at this opportunity!
Why are they so worried if they’re ready to form an alliance with either of the two parties? If the PN does not want a coalition, there’s always the Labour Party, right? No, wrong. The AD – and please Read My Lips – does not want to form a coalition with the MLP for the simple reason that it is hugely made up of disgruntled Nationalists who, fed up as they might be with the PN, do not want Dr Sant et al to govern this country. This is the sacrosanct truth and no Harry or Claire or Cassola can deny it.
The moment the AD says it will build an alliance with the MLP, half of its supporters will disappear into thin air (and half is quite a conservative percentage).
Is it any wonder we read Claire Bonello’s anti-PN diatribes every Sunday in The Sunday Times? The AD is not after Labour votes, it’s not even after the very few floating voters who believe that Labour can bring a change for the better. It is after the Nationalists who have been “bitten” by some minister or who did not get a promotion or who feel that the PN has been in power for too long but are still convinced that the MLP is not an option.
They are the ones who are convinced that the surcharge promise is a sad gimmick, the ones who believe that the MLP is nowhere near being better than the present government.
Which brings me to what Clyde Puli said on Monday. Most of the votes AD will get will come from the PN and if these do not result in a parliamentary seat, they will just be an indirect help to the MLP.
What is even worse is knowing that any party that gets one single vote more than the 50 per cent will automatically get the majority of seats, meaning that this “grand coalition” will be as close as a “useless” backbencher on the Opposition’s side!
This brings me back to why I will not vote AD (although I am determined to do so at a local level). I’m sorry, but as much as I agree with many of their ideas, and feel strongly about them, I feel more strongly about who I think should lead this country, where this country is and where it should go and who should lead Malta in any probable or improbable international crisis.
Before I’m pro-divorce, before I’m pro-environment, before I’m anti-Mepa as it operates today, before I’m gay, before I’m Liberal, I’m Maltese and I will only vote Green when I know that the alternative to the Nationalists is better.
Just moaning about some minister is not going to change the sad situation at this point in time. I hope I won’t get a cold shower of adjectives from Dr Cassola about being a “fundamentalist” “blue eyed fat cat”!
I also hope that those who plan on voting AD realise the consequences. True, the democratic vote does not belong to any party, but it is everyone’s duty to know its consequences.
Before we voted for the EU we wanted to know the consequences of joining and after we had seen what it meant, we voted to join. In the same way, all those voting AD should do so with the full knowledge that their vote could herald a change, in the sense that AD would have a seat (most probably not in a coalition), or get Dr Sant back in power.
On the day I was writing this, I heard that – as if to confirm all that I’ve written here – Rene Rossignaud, former AD councillor and staunch member of the Green Party, had said that he was resigning from the AD as it has become a party that is only interested in hunting for Nationalist votes! If you think the risk is worth it, then go ahead and vote AD. Rene and I don’t think so!
Albert Gauci Cunningham
ST PAUL’S BAY