Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1522634
13 ANALYSIS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 JUNE 2024 big tent any calls for electoral reform. 2. The success of big tent parties depends on the alchemy between the personalities involved. But third parties are prone to schisms and tend to attract purists who shun compromise As an independent, Cassola had a free hand and was a mas- ter of his own destiny, unshack- led by party structures. Sure enough, he managed to bring around him an energetic 'team' which included people from all walks of life sharing the dream of getting a decent and honest person into the EU parliament. But for a political party to suc- ceed, it also needs other strong personalities who bring with them their own baggage and different sets of priorities. Cassola, who had left AD in 2019 over conflicting positions on abortion, has found a way out of the ethical quandary by prom- ising a free vote on contentious moral issues. This means that Cassola, who has consistently opposed abortion on demand, is now willing to work alongside people who agree with its in- troduction. It suggests that the new party could include people militating on opposite sides of a debate which may dominate the national agenda in the next decade. Moreover, it raises the ques- tion of what constitutes a mor- al issue and what constitutes a human right. For example, sur- rogacy, regulation of sex work, drug laws, gender identity laws, and the recognition of living wills all pose ethical dilemmas that political parties are ex- pected to address when elected to power. Still, beyond these quandaries, any future success depends on Cassola teaming up with other strong personalities who enable the party to have strong candidatures in a num- ber of districts. Who these people will be will determine whether the new party is simply a personal ve- hicle for Cassola's ambitions or a real challenge to the political establishment. 3. A big tent party may lack the ideological cohesion which keeps small parties plodding on, even when faced with electoral setbacks. Success will be the driving force of the new party but failure would not be an option Marlene and Godfrey Farru- gia's Democratic Party had al- ready tried to project itself as a big tent party, and for a while, it attracted respected person- alities like hydrologist Marco Cremona, retired army officer Martin Cauchi Inglott, and civil society voices like Cami Appel- gren, amongst others. But the party imploded af- ter failing to leave a mark in the 2019 MEP elections. On the other hand, AD managed to survive since 1989 despite achieving very modest politi- cal results, probably because of the sense of purpose and ideo- logical glue which kept it going despite the constant turnover of members, leaders, and officials. Even in civil society, groups like Graffitti and Repubblika have a strong sense of purpose which often raises expectations of a future political role for their members. The new party, therefore, cannot afford to be wishy-washy and needs to find a strong glue to keep it togeth- er, possibly attracting leading voices from civil society. The promise of success may be the ultimate glue to hold activists together, but that could also be the undoing of the new party, which is bound to face an uphill battle. 4. A resurgent PN may reinvent itself as the big tent alternative The PN may well take a leaf out of Cassola's book by giving members a free vote on divisive moral issues, thus ditching its conservatism while giving hope of achieving a change of govern- ment to retain positive aspects of Labour's rule. The new party may question the PN's credibility while pro- jecting itself as the real oppo- sition to policies endorsed by both the PN and PL. The PN's disadvantage is that having just regained its unity following a decade in the wilderness, the party may not be strong enough to withstand changes which could rattle its conservative grassroots. But the new party will not be facing a spent force and the PN is still seen by many voters as the only realistic alternative to a Labour government. Neither can one discount Labour's abil- ity to reboot and to renew its appeal among progressive vot- ers as Abela hinted on Monday when he referred to the need of a serious discussions on taboos like abortion and euthanasia. Yet a re-edition of a contest between Abela and Grech may well be a turn-off for a signifi- cant portion of voters. Turn- ing the bipartisan contest into a three-way race may be the ultimate challenge for the new party but one which would set it apart from previous feeble at- tempts at shaking the system. As the MEP elections show, even a strong first preference showing requires a backup of second and third preferences, which is never forthcoming due to the solid block votes in both parties