On 20 October last year, my column in The Malta Independent on Sunday was entitled: A roadmap to an Opposition reborn. In it, I made the argument that third-party forces needed to be consolidated as a first step to end political fragmentation. Since then, we have got the ball rolling through the December announcement that Partit Demokratiku and Alternattiva Demokratika were in talks regarding the creation of a new political entity.

I also wrote about the need for a fresh vision for national renewal – one which delivers us from Malta and Gozo’s rotten bi-partisan political system. For the Opposition to defeat the Government, it must offer something genuinely fresh, radical and inspiring. The Nationalist Party has, instead, only presented itself as a lesser evil, offering nothing fundamentally different in government except for the vague promises of good governance which are not backed up by a track record of credibility on the subject.

Since the Labour Party simply copied and perfected the abuses of their predecessors, what is really needed is a clean break from the whole rotten system, not just fine-tuning it. I am therefore going to lay out a roadmap for how the Nationalist Party can work with third-party elements to create a catch-all movement that attracts a majority.

The evidence for the need for a clean break from the past can be seen through the revelation of Yorgen Fenech’s alleged role in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Her murder was the ultimate proof that the country’s true masters are a corrupt business elite. This elite holds the reins of power, regardless of whether the Nationalist Party or the Labour Party are in government, because both major parties seek to appease these private interests and have already sold out to them. In this country, the rich are above the law.

Looking beyond Yorgen Fenech, we see this reality played out through the over-development of the country, where cowboy speculators ride roughshod over planning regulations. Our abusers dive headfirst into loopholes, widening them as they go, and punch holes in our planning policies. The Planning Authority is a plaything in the hands of these men, who are already sufficiently rich that they can do whatever they want in life – and yet they insist on squeezing more pennies out of this battered country at the direct expense of everyone else.

Nonetheless, because our political system is so rotten, it is in the whole country’s interest for the Nationalist Party to get its act together and cooperate with Malta’s new third party movement in the making. In 2017, the Forza Nazzjonali coalition offered a genuine departure from the tribal system that has been killing Malta. Unfortunately, Adrian Delia betrayed the coalition and chose to use Partit Demokratiku as a scapegoat. Partit Demokratiku, meanwhile, remained loyal and true to the values and message of the coalition and continued fighting corruption even after the Nationalist Party had stopped doing so in order to focus on ‘bread and butter issues’. When their strategy did not work, the Nationalists started talking about corruption again, but they lost a lot of credibility on the topic during their silence. These political battles are either driven by selfishness or by values. If they are driven by principles and values, the political message should not fundamentally change depending on electoral convenience!

Deepening the theme of an Opposition reborn – Louis Galea has suggested a rebranding of the Nationalist Party. This has injured the pride of many Nationalists attached to their party identity. I will be direct and bold and propose that the rebranding effort be directed towards the Opposition as a whole instead – and not the Nationalist Party. We need a Forza Nazzjonali reborn, under conditions favourable to all stakeholders, avoiding the mistakes of the past. This is the only way to achieve a united Opposition.

There are vast segments of society which have no love for the Labour Party, but which will never vote for the Nationalist Party. It is this segment of society which the third party movement has an appeal to. It is only through another coalition that the Nationalist Party can achieve a majority. If the Nationalist Party wants a united Opposition, it must acknowledge that there is a gap left behind on the Left of the political spectrum, and it must allow the third party forces to consolidate and fill that gap – and then work hand-in-hand with the third party movement to defeat the forces of corrupt neo-liberalism.

While the third party movement is happy in a coalition government with either of the major parties, this incumbent government is not – as I had hoped – taking the action needed to curb the power and influence of the corrupt business elite.

Therefore, we require a political revolution, and radical reform of the entire political system. This is why the Nationalist Party must embrace a new movement, working outside tribal lines – because the electorate will not be tempted by settling for a lesser evil. The country is crying out for something inclusive, ambitious and – above all, inspiring – which caters to quality of life and wellbeing first and foremost.

I will continue to do my part to build this movement as promised. If the readers of this article invest in this vision and fight for it, then it will be more likely to succeed. So stand with us.