The Nationalist Party has lost a general election candidate, after she said that she felt disconnected from the party and that she was “shut down” when she tried to pitch ideas on subjects such as women’s rights and health.
Tiffany Abela-Wadge was set to contest the 9th and 10th districts for the PN, but withdrew her candidature from the party a few weeks ago after feeling disconnected from the party.
“Yesterday’s survey results make me realize that I’m not alone in this”, Abela-Wadge said, in reference to a survey published by MaltaToday which found that PN support had, after a week of internal discord, tumbled back to where it was when Bernard Grech first took over as the party leader.
“Only some of you know so far, but a few weeks ago i resigned from being a candidate for the next general election for one simple reason - i feel disconnected from the party, I don’t feel like i can contribute to anything the party wants to steer into right now, and the party seem to want to steer clear of my way of politics - that of working with the opposite side to bring about a change from within rather than always fighting, always complaining and never agreeing with what the government is doing”, Abela-Wadge said on social media on Monday.
“Like it or not, this government is here to stay, and thats not cause it’s perfect - but it’s because the government does listen to the electorate and respond to their pulse and it’s also because of the lack of effective opposition”, she said.
“I tried to speak up about women’s issues and health and I was shut down. I’m not a woman who would shut up and tow the party line even when the party is simply not talking about the subject at hand, and that’s why I decided to step down”, she continued.
Abela-Wadge said that her fight for equality and for a healthcare system that covers all women’s health-related issues, starting from something as simple as having contraception would not stop there, and that she will simply take a different route.
“These results show that I’m indeed not the only one who feels like PN doesn’t represent me anymore”, she said, again referring to the survey results.
“Rest assured that this by no means mean that I’ve hopped over to another side. This simply means that I took a step back. When election time comes, I hope to find that candidate who sees life like I do and that person will definitely get my vote”, she concluded.
PN Secretary General reacts
On his part, the PN's secretary-general Francis Zammit Dimech denied ever censoring Abela-Wadge over women's issues.
"I categorically deny that we tried to censor her or interfere with her position," he told us.
Zammit Dimech explained that Abela-Wadge had appeared on a TV show prior to her resignation, where she spoke about a variety of topics that included women's issues.
However, the Nationalist Party has a media policy whereby clearance must be obtained by the party before a candidate or MP can make any media appearances.
According to Zammit Dimech, the party was not notified of Abela-Wadge's TV appearance.
He said that he spoke with her over the matter, and that at the time he felt that there was no particular disagreement between the two on the issue, but shortly after the incident she went on to resign as a party candidate.
"We never had the slightest problem," Zammit Dimech said. "This had nothing to do with the content of her interview."