The new Alternattiva Demokratika Chairman Carmel Cacopardo, who was elected today, defended the party's decision to not align itself with the Forza Nazzjonali coalition set up in the last election, which had been comprised of the Nationalist Party and Partit Demokratiku.
AD's choice, Cacopardo told the party's extraordinary general meeting yesterday, had been taken in order to maintain and to hold on to AD's identity of clean politics.
Cacopardo explained that AD could not have joined the coalition to fight for clean politics when there are cases in the PN which he deemed to have been anything but: "How can you be credible when you form an alliance in favour of good governance with these people?" he asked.
"It was would not have been an acceptable attitude to pretend like nothing was happening when the PN's deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami was for some time a director of CaptialOne, which had been investigated of laundering money suspected to have come from drugs.
"It was also unacceptable that they pretended nothing happened when the Honourable Claudio Grech stated he couldn't remember if he had ever met George Farrugia who was accused in the oil procurement scandal. It also wasn't acceptable when the other deputy leader, Mario de Marco, negotiated with the government for his clients when his work in Parliament is to scrutinise what the government is doing with those same clients."
On the other hand, the new chairman claimed that although some saw this as a missed opportunity, and in fact AD's votes decreased by 50 per cent in the last election, Cacopardo blamed the lack of organisation within the party for the defeat.
He acknowledged it was not the first time the party had struggled because of a lack of organisation, such as back in 2003, and suggested that the party focuses its energy in active politics by being present in all localities through Malta and Gozo.
Cacopardo spoke about the various proposals that AD has been campaigning for , which have either now passed into law, are being discussed and due to become law: divorce, LGBTIQ rights and now the discussion of 16 year olds being give the right to vote in national elections.
"Last week [Prime Minister Joseph] Muscat announced another initiative from our electoral manifesto, this time most recently, 2017: that public consultations are begin on the elimination of petrol and diesel cars from our roads. This is a good step as we have always insisted that when carried out it will improve the air quality for everyone and will also reduce the incidence of respiratory diseases."
The new chairman also addressed the issue of permits being given out for petrol stations all over the pace, the need for rent regulations, which he had spoken about the other week.
Cacopardo also spoke about how the youth parliament has asked for a discussion on abortion and observed that the reality is that many Maltese are going abroad for abortions and are sometimes doing so in unsafe conditions. It is the country's right to have the opportunity to discuss the issue, he said, adding: "This silence must stop immediately."
New AD Executive consists of:
Chairperson: Carmel Cacopardo
Deputy Chairperson: Mario Mallia
Secretary General: Ralph Cassar
Deputy Secretary General: Anna Azzopardi
PRO: Luke Caruana
International Secretary: Danika Formosa
Party Treasurer : Simon Galea
Other Members: Marc'Andrea Cassar and James Gabarretta