AD is an invisible party, where two neighbours might have supported it for the past 18 years without letting each other know, said party chairperson Harry Vassallo.
Speaking during a party activity yesterday, Dr Vassallo said he has been doing his door-to-door campaign since May and has realised how many people have supported AD without showing their political inclinations in public. “There have been neighbours who have supported AD for ages and have not let in each other on the secret,” he commented.
Our party does not give the comfort of the crowds to its supporters, we do not organise activities for the masses and we dream of leaving such activities only for concerts, said Dr Vassallo.
He told AD activists he hoped that election results would only be announced through television instead of carcades as that would mean that AD succeeded in gaining a parliamentary seat while the other major parties would not know whether they were in government or not. “And then we will all sigh in relief,” said Dr Vassallo.
He criticised the current way of doing politics, “in which we sow fear among the people who have to decide on their children’s future by re-evoking their parents’ bogeyman.”
Dr Vassallo said AD was the only party who spoke about the problem created by the 53,000 empty housing units in Malta, the size of a piece of land covering from Pembroke to Qormi. He said Sliema had more empty units than the whole of Ireland, while Tignè’s density could be matched only by Manhattan, which has a subway system instead of four clogged streets.
He accused the PN and MLP for not passing a party-financing law, adding that they were puppets whose strings were pulled by their financiers. In this way, they have let go of the country’s helm, like the captain of Titanic who had left the ship’s bridge to be photographed beside the pool.
Philippe Lamberts, co-leader of the European Green Party, told AD supporters that greens do not seduce people, but convince them. “Green parties all over Europe have taken around 20 years to make it to parliament, and I believe that you have come of age,” he said.
Mr Lamberts said he joined the Belgian Green Party because of the way they made politics, adding that he was proud of the fact that no green party has ever been found guilty of corruption.
Following the meeting, former PN activist Jo Said and his wife Lucienne announced they had joined AD as members. Dr Vassallo said the doors are open for people who wanted to join or leave the party, adding that AD never ran after people who left the party, such as former councillor Rene Rossignaud.