Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1501675
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 JUNE 2023 8 INTERVIEW Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt A small party that 'thinks big' In your first interview after being elected party leader, you said that 'Alternattiva Demokratika cannot expect environmentalists to automat- ically vote for it, just because it's a Green Party'. This raises the question of what AD ac- tually stands for, outside the realm of environmentalism. What other reasons are there – apart from Green issues - to vote Green, anyway? Well, since I've been in this position, the topics we've been discussing have not been not limited to just the environ- ment. This is, in fact, part of what I meant by that earlier comment. As a party, we need to be credible about more than the environment: which re- mains our main focus, natural- ly. But it's not the only one. There are a whole load of other issues we also need to be credible about: such as cor- ruption, traffic management, education, and so on. Because we're a political party, not an NGO. So we need to put for- ward credible, doable propos- als: of the kind which can ac- tually be enacted, in a scenario where we get elected. And OK, I know we've nev- er arrived at that scenario be- fore. But then again, we need to at least start thinking that way. Otherwise, we would be restricting ourselves; and we'd end up like some sort of pres- sure group... which I don't want AD to be, ever. Don't get me wrong: I am well aware of our limitations, as a small party. But I don't think we would be losing anything, by trying to be more 'daring'... and by 'thinking big'. Because after all: why not? I mean, what do we have to lose, anyway? We're not in Parliament; and – unlike the bigger parties - we don't have anyone 'pulling our strings', so to speak. And that also means... we're 'free'. So I say: then let's be more daring! Let's try things out. You never know: some things might work; others might not. But I do think we should be more adventurous, as a party. What do you mean by being 'more adventurous', though? To give you an example: for years, AD had resisted being drawn into the abortion de- bate, for fear of being labelled 'pro-abortion'. But let's face it: that taboo has now been broken. Not only have numer- ous NGOs already come out in favour of abortion... but the issue itself was put on the national agenda by another small party (PD). Isn't it a lit- tle late in the day, then, to be 'daring' on issues like these? I'm not so sure that the abor- tion taboo is as 'broken', as you say. It is true, perhaps, that the issue is no longer as controver- sial as it was around 20 years ago. But when you take into account how our society has remained, even though we're in 2023: I would say that it is still 'courageous', for a political par- ty to speak out openly in favour of decriminalising abortion. And my own experience, in the short time I've been in- volved with AD, confirms this. When I first joined the party, there was an evident reluc- tance to even discuss the issue, at all... still less, to take up an actual position on the issue. So it is still considered something a bit 'daring', in Malta: even if attitudes are changing... just this morning, in fact, there was an article about how the NCPE (National Commission for the Promotion of Equality) has now come out in favour of de- criminalisation, too. So this sentiment is there, and it's growing: in part because pro-choice activists have been openly advocating the decrimi- nalisation of abortion for some time now. But it doesn't mean that there aren't others who are too afraid to speak out. In fact, there is still a lot of omerta' in Malta. Let's face it: people here are afraid of everything. I'm trying to meet new people all the time, to try and get them involved... and I always hear the same thing: "Don't reveal my name! I don't want to show my face!" etc. etc. There is basically this huge fear, that if you dare to ever speak up, about anything at all... you're already considered a 'rebel'. So people's survival instincts tell them to simply 'shut up'; [because they feel that] 'There's no chance of winning against the bad guy', so to speak. And everyone is expected to just stay there, and simply accept everything, with- out ever fighting back. But... that's not me! Back to environment issue: earlier, you said that you didn't want AD to become 'just another pressure group'... [Emphatically] Yes. But on the basis of your oth- er argument, that 'AD cannot rely on the automatic support of Malta's environmentalists': one possible explanation is that the local pressure groups active in this field – e.g. Mov- iment Graffitti – are perceived as being more 'effective', in their methods, than AD. Could it be, then, that people are now turning to NGOs, rather than political parties, for ac- tion on environmental issues? I know what you mean. Truth be told: the total disillusion- ment on the environmentalist front - which had originally affected mainly the PL and PN – has now spread out to also start affecting us, up to a cer- tain extent. And at this moment, I feel as though people are 'watching us', in a way - especially me, right now - because... well, you know how it is, with the 'men- tality of the leader' that exists here. People want to see how AD is actually going to 'work', under my leadership. So I accept your criticism. As you rightly say: yes, Graffitti has done a lot of work, which I think we should have done, re- ally. But then, you also have to look at the resources - especial- ly, the human resources - that the party has to actually work with. Because ultimately, you can only work with what you have. This is why the one thing that I am currently working on, around the clock, is find- ing new people, and new faces. And I'm managing, so far. To- morrow [Saturday], for exam- ple, we're finally going to meet with the party's youth section: which has been dormant for these past years. And I'm very For newly-elected AD chair SANDRA GAUCI, there is a good deal more to leading a 'Green Party', than just 'being Green'...