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MALTATODAY 27 February 2022

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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 FEBRUARY 2022 8 INTERVIEW Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt No such thing as a 'wasted' vote This week, ADPD unveiled its electoral slogan: 'Green Sweeps Clean'. Coupled with the Maltese version – 'Xkupa Had- ra Tnaddaf – it is clearly a play on the proverb, 'A new broom sweeps clean'. But given that Alternattiva Demokratika has existed, as a political presence, for over 30 years: so how 'new' is this Green broom? ADPD is as relevant today, as it was when Alternattiva Demokratika was originally founded. Today, everyone is an 'environmentalist'; everyone declares themselves to be 'environmentalist'. But when you peel away the outer layer, you start finding a different reality under- neath. That is why [the broom] is 'Green': be- cause to us – as members of the Green movement - ecological conservation is the basic yardstick governing all our pol- icies, and in all areas. One example is the current proposal for 'open spaces'. The Prime Minister, and Environment Minis- ter Aaron Farrugia, have just announced one of these projects: the pedestrianiza- tion of St Anne's Street [Floriana]. At face value, it looks like a good pro- posal. But when you analyse it more closely, you will find a basic, fundamen- tal defect. This proposal will not remove cars from that area; it will merely 'hide them' somewhere out of sight. But if we really want to offer a sustainable alter- native, we have the perfect opportunity to do so: we are at the beginning of the transition between fuel-driven vehicles, and electrification. This is the time to implement a prop- er transport strategy: whereby the policy of open spaces, and the plan for a [fu- el-to-electric] changeover, can be inte- grated, and merged together. Why? Be- cause our National Transport Strategy tells us that 50% of the voyages we carry out using private vehicles, are for a trip lasting less than 10-15 minutes. In other words, short distances. The country is small. Everywhere is a short distance away. So the argument is that, with an efficient public transport system – not just on a national, but also regional level – we could do away with a substantial number of our cars. Can we integrate this, too, in the Green open spaces projects? This brings us to ADPD's proposals for this election. At the same launch, you also said that your party manifesto is 'still in the final stages of completion'. Aren't you leaving it a little late, to re- veal your own electoral proposals? Obviously, I would have preferred it if [the manifesto] was ready a long time ago. But our resources are what they are; they are limited. We are in the final stages of completing it. But what I've just been saying about Malta's transport pol- icy, is nothing new. We have been saying it for a long time… Yes; but are you confident that people out there would be familiar with these policies? Including young, first-time voters, who have no memory of former elections? There are those who are familiar, and those who are not familiar enough. But let's be clear: even if we did have a ready, published manifesto… you know as much as I do, how much people out there actually read political manifestos. To be honest, the advantage of having a published manifesto, is so that jour- nalists such as yourself would be able to look it up, and ask questions about it… That is precisely why I asked. […] But regardless whether your manifesto is printed, or not: what is ADPD propos- ing, concretely? Can you tell us, in a few words, what the manifesto will contain? Our manifesto is effectively a collection of all the positions we have taken, over the past five years. One of the fundamen- tal issues is that this country has been hijacked, by a two-party system that is stifling the national institutions. This is reflected in the quality of governance we have in the country right now. Not just at government level; but also in the reg- ulatory bodies, which are being stifled by people who are very often politically ap- pointed… At the same time, however, there are various civil society groups that are now saying exactly the same thing… Yes: that is part of our success, for hav- ing put forward these ideas throughout the years; ideas which have now been adopted by civil society. There was a time when we were the only ones pro- nouncing [these ideas]. But today, we have managed to put across that message to such an extent, that it has been taken up, independently, by a number of civil society organizations… Don't you feel, however, that this very success may have robbed ADPD of part of its 'raison d'etre': that of being the only political party making those argu- ADPD chairperson CARMEL CACOPARDO promises a 'Green broom' to sweep the country clean. But is Malta's longest-serving small party in a state of readiness, to deliver on that promise?

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