Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1495215
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 MARCH 2023 8 INTERVIEW Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt A choice between 'mediocrity', There has been much discus- sion about our latest survey results: mostly focusing on its implications for the two larg- er parties. But the same sur- vey also registered significant increases for smaller parties – including ADPD – as well as (conversely) for the growing category of 'non-voters': now at an all-time high. Would you agree, then, that these results show that people are beginning to lose trust in the two-party system, as a whole? People are not only losing trust in the two-party system; but also in the way things have generally always been done, here. Historically, there has always been this mentality of 'choos- ing the lesser of the two evils'. Right now, for instance, one of the things I'm hearing a lot is: "Labour and PN both steal... but Labour steals more than PN, so let's choose PN this time." My idea, on the other hand, is: let's choose someone who's honest; and who doesn't 'steal' from us, at all. But the reality is that people have always been 'short-changed', in the amount of choice they actually have. It's never a choice based on 'who is the best possible candi- date, to bring about the changes that the people actually want'. It's always a case of: 'Let's choose this or that party... only because the others are worse.' In other words, the choice is al- ways between 'mediocrity'... and 'even more mediocrity'. And I think that people are beginning to get tired of all that. Starting with myself: I'm 44 years old; which also means I practically grew up under the Nationalists, and have now ex- perienced 10 years under La- bour... and looking back, you can see that what those two phases actually have in common, is... "who is going to defraud the country, now?" Because OK, it's true that - when you compare the two - the PN was not quite as corrupt, as Labour is today. But still, it re- mains a common factor: there WAS corruption under the Nationalists – albeit not to the same extent – so it still remains a choice between 'corrupt, and MORE corrupt.' But is this really what we should all be aspiring towards? 'Removing Labour, to replace it with PN'... so that we all end up 'back at square one'? I dont think so, myself; and most people, I would say, are now sick and tired of the same old system. They're fed up of having to 'choose the lesser of two evils'; and they're fed up of consistently being 'taken for a ride'. They want something different; and that is where we come into the picture... At the same time, however: while ADPD increased its vot- er-share by 1.4% to 2.1%, the non-voting population now stands at a record 24.8%. This partly validates your argument that 'people are getting fed up with the entire system'... but then, why are so few of them actually turning to ADPD, as an alternative? Why are so many more choosing not to vote, at all? Well, it's understandable, up to a point. The last election was on- ly a year ago; and it was another Labour landslide. So from the point of view of voters who feel 'disenchanted': it makes sense, at this point in time, for them to just withdraw from politics altogether. After all, Labour's in power... and we're going to have to put up with them, whether we like it or not, for the next four years... so why bother even get- ting involved? If the survey came out a year BEFORE the next general elec- tion, on the other hand, it might have been a different story. But right now, I can't say I really blame people for choosing to withdraw into their own little 'bubble' – even for the sake of preserving their mental health – and switching off from politics, entirely. Because that's what some peo- ple are doing: more so now, that many are struggling with their own personal finances (let alone, with 'keeping up with what's go- ing on in the country'.) They feel it's better to just 'go to work'; 'take care of their own family', and just stick with that, without getting involved in all the stress and hassle of politics. And I understand them com- pletely; because even just 'watching the news', nowadays, in enough to takes a toll on your mental health. But it's also a wake-up call for us, as ADPD, to actually reach out to those peo- ple. We all know that Malta al- ways used to boast the highest voter-participation in elections, anywhere in the democratic world – with turn-outs of 92%, 93%, that would be considered 'unheard of', in any other coun- try. So from that perspective, at least: the people have already taken that 'first step', of dis- engaging with the traditional two-party model. They have al- ready 'cut the umbilical cord', as it were, from the Red-and-Blue mentality. Now, it's up to us to offer them that 'wing', under which they can seek protection. Because those people need protection, at the end of the day. They don't feel protected by either Labour or Nationalist parties, any more. They only feel that they've been taken for a ride by both, for so many years... And this time, I feel that AD- PD is credible enough, to offer the sort of protection those people want. I know it's the op- posite of what a lot of people say about us – we've been called 'naive', 'idealistic'; 'out of touch with reality', and so on... but in my own experience, in the two years since I've been ADPD: I haven't seen any of these 'un- realistic' things, we're accused of proposing. On the contrary, I've only ever seen policies, and proposals, that are entirely 'do- able'... Perhaps, but they still haven't convinced very many of those 28.4% non-voters (not to men- tion the separate category of undecideds). Why do you think ADPD finds it difficult, to actual- ly get through to those people? MaltaToday's latest survey may have sent shockwaves through the political establishment; but for SANDRA GAUCI – ADPD's candidate for next year's MEP elections – it represents a clear sign that people are 'fed up' of traditional Maltese politics