In the European Parliamentary Election, Arnold Cassola once again took the independent route, after leaving Alternattiva Demokratika some years ago. He had a very good campaign, but was not elected. As my colleague Andrew Azzopardi stated on Campus 103.7 earlier today, Arnold's share of votes was much less than the comprehensive votes obtained by PL and PN respectively.
During the campaign, Arnold stated that if he was elected, he would have joined the European Greens - the same European Greens whose pro-choice abortion stance is a major priority, though he cites this policy as the reason why he left AD.
Today, Arnold was quoted by the press about the need of a 'centre-green-left' grouping. Such a party already exists (ADPD), and it has a democratic decision making process through its members. Not to mention that talk of a broader green-left formation has been making the rounds since the 1990s but never really succeeded for various reasons.
Arnold had it easier this time around also because practically all the independent media gave him lots of favourable coverage. If his centre-green-left party is formed, I wish it luck, particularly in deciding who will lead it and in having an agreed stance on various issues.
In the meantime, I reiterate that the only alternative government to Labour is the Nationalist Party (and vice-versa) - and it is the people who have been consistently showing this through their free vote in the past decades.
In this context, the PN can opt for a reasonable and moderate voice which speaks up not only for those who already have considerable media coverage, but also for the silent, invisible and often forgotten majorities who speak through their vote.
Incidentally, in 2017 I had publicly appealed to AD - then led by Cassola - to join the PN / Forza Nazzjonali coalition, but he disagreed.
