It was their best chance to make headway into the local political scene. It was their best chance to make it to Parliament for the first time, breaking the duopoly that has existed since Independence. It was their best chance to win over the people’s support.

But they both failed.

Alternattiva Demokratika and Azzjoni Nazzjonali contested the general election in the hope of electing one or more of their candidates to Parliament. AD had even higher hopes, thinking that they could form a coalition government with either of the two major parties.

But they did not get anywhere near. Their performance was dismally poor, and although AD did manage to recover, in percentage terms, some of the ground it had lost in the 2003 election, both parties should be disappointed with the outcome.

And disappointed they are, so much so that the two party leaders, Harry Vassallo for AD and Josie Muscat for AN, have decided to relinquish their post. Dr Vassallo had already hinted that he would have stepped down unless AD elected an MP. Now that the party has once again failed to make it, he is keeping his promise.

Both AD, which has been on the local political scene for nearly 20 years, and AN, which was set up less than a year ago, knew that it would have been a hard battle for them to break the two-party state of affairs. But both were confident that it was the right time for them to do it, and therefore their poor results are all the more disappointing.

With a party that has been in government for nearly two full decades, with the exception of a 22-month Labour stint, and with an opposition that was not considered as being credible enough to provide an alternative government, it was thought that AD and AN would have performed better.

Added to this, with so many disgruntled Nationalist supporters who would, however, never vote Labour, it was thought that AD and AN would have managed to attract their support. Yet, although some Nationalist voters did choose to give their vote to the smaller parties, in their majority unhappy PN supporters either chose not to vote at all – the 93 per cent turnout was one of the lowest in history – or invalidated their vote.

This, in itself, is a vote of no confidence in the smaller parties, who are not seen by the electorate as being credible enough to be given a seat or more in parliament.

AD’s talk of forming a coalition did not receive so much support. The people realised that it would have been too risky to allow a situation where the government relied on the whims and fancies of a minority party, irrespective of what AD activists said. What happened in Italy earlier this year, with one small party bringing down the government, was too much of a recent example to put aside, and although AD tried hard to convince the people that there was nothing wrong with coalition governments as most European countries have such a situation, the electorate turned down the offer.

The future of the two smaller parties is now very much in doubt. Are they strong enough to continue? With regard to AD, the fact that in 20 years they have never passed the two per cent mark in a general election – an election for the EP and local elections are altogether a different story; they should have realised it by now – should be enough a verdict that the people do not give the party that much consideration.

The resignation of the two leaders will also be a great blow to both AD and AN. They constituted most of the limited strength the two organisations had, and their departure would leave AD and AN in a very poor state. The question that now arises is: will AD, AN, or both, be disbanded?