After 10 years at the helm of Alternattiva Demokratika, Harry Vassallo said yesterday that he would tender his resignation as leader of AD at the party’s next general council and expressed his wish not to be re-elected, although he would be ready to serve “in any role and circumstance”.

Speaking during a press conference at the party premises in Triq Manwel Dimech in Sliema, Dr Vassallo congratulated PN leader Lawrence Gonzi for his party’s victory at the general election and paid tribute to Alfred Sant, who had announced that he would be stepping down as Labour leader, earlier during the day.

He appealed for political maturity, particularly due to the fact that no absolute majority has been achieved by either one of the two major parties.

“This is a small step in the right direction and the fact there was no absolute majority makes us more European,” said Dr Vassallo.

He expressed his disappointment at the result achieved by AD. “The number of votes achieved by AD was equivalent to the quota required for a candidate to be elected to Parliament, but AD will again not be represented in Parliament due to the current electoral system that allows for the two major parties to have perfect proportionality,” he said.

The AD leader said that over these past 18 years, the party’s message has become more valid than ever before and the other parties have even tried to make it their own.

He said the party had a valid contribution to make in the local political scene and expressed disappointment that the government had excluded AD from a number of significant events over the past four years.

Dr Vassallo said that although it was still too early for AD to have a deep analysis of its results and the way forward, the party certainly wanted to speak about changing the electoral system. Other issues it wants to bring up are the Freedom of Information Act, the Whistleblower Act, party financing and the way electoral campaigns are carried out.

“AD’s result was no shock to us. It was a surprise however, to those who imagined that even if they did not vote for AD, the party would have still somehow made it to Parliament. We were taken for granted,” said Dr Vassallo.

Speaking about his leadership of the party, he said he would tender his resignation at the next general meeting, the date of which would be announced at a later stage.

“It would be a burden for me to be chosen leader again, but I am willing to serve my party in any role and circumstance.

“I would rather serve as a foot soldier like I did from the time the party was founded in 1989 till the time I was appointed party leader in 1998,” he said.

He said one of AD’s problems was that unlike the two major parties, it did not have a direct communication medium to reach thousands of people. Asked about the party’s plans to have a television station set up, he said those plans would soon be implemented.