This week, I announced that I would be contesting the leadership of Partit Demokratiku for the AGM on Monday 6 July. The intention is to obtain the mandate to complete the merger talks with Alternattiva Demokratika which have been ongoing since last year, and to create, in practice, a new political party. I have committed to concluding the merger talks by August, fulfilling my mandate in short order. This comes after having acted as interim leader of Partit Demokratiku since September of last year - a period during most of which I was abroad. It has been an incredibly challenging time in my life, and a responsibility which unexpectedly fell into my lap. However, should these talks end in success, I will be able to rest easy, knowing I saw my duty through from beginning to end. In this article I hope to lay out the broader vision.
In my experience, third party politics is generally acknowledged as offering more ideal solutions to the problems the country faces. This is because third parties are, first of all, not beholden to corrupt interests. They are also not obliged to try and please everyone. They are therefore more likely to take difficult decisions in the national interest, which are of absolutely crucial importance to the future. A case in point is the regeneration of Malta's water table, which is being over-extracted. If we continue to abuse it, we will deprive ourselves of it as a resource completely, forcing us to increasingly rely on reverse osmosis. The solutions to this overexploitation are electorally unpopular, and thus nothing is ever done. People feel entitled to their illegal boreholes, for example. A third party, however, would do what is necessary. In Parliament, Partit Demokratiku always acted as the conscience of the nation - the watcher that watches the watchman. We were the last line of defence, and made ourselves felt on various issues with sufficient impact that the two major parties adjusted their strategies accordingly.
Many people recognise this - but are simply too afraid to choose an alternative for fear of wasting a vote. However, in the last general election, thanks to a historic and forward-looking coalition, Malta had third party MPs in Parliament for the first time. Once provided with the opportunity for change, people chose it. New ground was broken, and the country got to experience the third party in Parliament. Despite propaganda to the contrary, the Speaker made it very clear that Partit Demokratiku was its own Parliamentary entity within the Opposition - easily confirmed by navigating to Parliament's website, and finding the 2 MPs listed accordingly. Now that new ground has been broken, the challenge is to continue doing so. The times are themselves changing now, and it is up to us to every one of us to make the best of them. There is a vacuum waiting to be filled. The Nationalist Party and Labour Party should welcome a new partner on the stage, for a third party can act as the bridge that binds national politics and tribes together, rather than divides them further. Partit Demokratiku was a home to disgruntled Nationalists and Labourites, who found that the common ground they shared far exceeded what set them apart.
Moving forward into the future, it will take time to build this new party. The current generation at the reins will be there to steer things in the initial stages, of course. The change that we wish to see will not be achieved by pursuing one of the definitions of madness; to do the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. No, the strategy will be to blaze a new trail, and grow and prosper according to the political reality. We must plan for the future, and grow step by step, intelligently. In doing so, the third party will finally get where it needs to be.