Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/691413
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 12 JUNE 2016 15 position is 'temporary'. "I mean the core group, not the party as a whole. Our intention is for the party to be there for the long haul. But our own role is to pave the way for an AGM, where the formal administration will be elected. Even on an individ- ual level, we may or may not con- test for those roles. I, for instance, might decide that with the AGM happening, I would have given my contribution, and stop there. So to answer your point about the lack of policies: it is when we have elected members that the policies will be formulated…" Fair enough, but there is a pos- sible problem with this approach. Our polls indicate that interest in the PD comes mainly from disillu- sioned PN voters. And voters may be disillusioned with a party for dif- ferent (and at times contradictory) reasons. I myself know individuals who no longer identify with the PN because it's too conservative… and others because it's not conservative enough. If this is the category that will ul- timately form the PD's core, it may well inherit the same intrinsic polit- ical schizophrenia of the main two parties: the tendency to try and be all things to all people… "It certainly makes for interesting discussions at those meetings. But that, I think, is a plus. When you only discuss with like-minded peo- ple, you almost already know where the discussion will take you. The fact that people come from differ- ent ideological backgrounds – and social backgrounds, too: not every- one is a professional; not everyone comes from Sliema, or H'Attard, or Qrendi – means that you have to al- so re-evaluate your own views, and have them debated. It's a healthy breeding ground for ideas." Does he envisage problems, how- ever? Is he comfortable with the fact that the party seems to be at- tracting former Nationalists, when its founder's declared aims are to challenge the Labour government on social issues? "It is curious how Marlene – be- cause at the time I'm talking about, there was no 'party' as such – suc- ceeded in attracting a high propor- tion of ex-Nationalist voters…. and at the same time, according to the same survey, almost no floating voters at all. That was surprising to me. If that's how things really are, it is not an encouraging start. It's encouraging in terms of numbers; but the fact that the eggs are all in one basket may be problematic. Es- pecially because it's a PN basket… so the PN will see us as a threat. I would have much preferred if there was a more even distribution of supporters. But that survey was conducted at a time when Marlene Farrugia was the only name associ- ated with the party. It is no secret that she is unpopular with Labour supporters… she has been called 'traitor', and so on. Up to a point, the survey may be a reflection of that. But now that the party is more visible, and more people are public- ly associated… who knows? Maybe future surveys will show different demographics… " There is also more taking place behind the scenes than just disillu- sionment with the two parties. "The disillusionment exists, but it is not new. Frustration with the two-party system goes much fur- ther than the past few months. What makes us 'fresh' as a party is that, if you look at the names, there are no politicians. None of us comes to this from another po- litical party; there is none of the po- litical baggage associated with the other parties…" Hang on a second: there is cer- tainly one politician there – the leader, no less – and she undeni- ably comes with a certain amount of baggage… "But Marlene was the one who kicked it off… it doesn't start and end with her. This is important, because she has a very strong per- sonality... so it quickly came to be known as 'the party of Marlene'. Fair enough, at the beginning there were no other names, so it really was that. With new structures in place, however the party will ac- quire its own identity… which is not necessarily Marlene Farrugia. Even within our own internal discus- sions: she is part of the group. It's not a case that Marlene speaks, we all take notes and then run off. This is explicit in the name: the Demo- cratic Party. It's not a one-person dictatorship. Absolutely not." This reminds me of an important question I had meant to ask ear- lier. PD has yet to decide whether it will be contesting the next elec- tion, but among the natural aims of any political party is to get its candidates elected. In the case of Marlene Farrugia, the PD's leader, this has already happened. She won her seat on the Labour ticket, true; but she has since resigned from the PL and re-registered as an independent. This means that the Partit Demokratiku, despite not having actually been founded yet, already has an elected MP of its own. So if the prospect of a third party in par- liament is supposed to bring about a new way of doing politics… why isn't this already happening? "If you observe Marlene's perfor- mance in parliament, you will find she is one of the most active MPs. In the space of two weeks, she ta- bled two no-confidence motions, which were more focused than the one tabled by the PN… which was directed at government, instead of Konrad Mizzi or Keith Schembri. More recently, she tabled another calling for a masterplan on high- rise development. When you con- sider that she is one of around 70 MPs, I think she is delivering more than one seventieth of the total. "This, mind you, is also because many MPs on both sides practical- ly have no opinions of their own at all. They wait to see what position the leader takes, then parrot that position. Original ideas are rarely forthcoming. But bear in mind that Marlene Farrugia is doing all that, and doesn't have the benefit of an organised party structure behind her. We are focusing on building the structure; we're not giving any input to policy. That will come later. For now, she is on her own in Parliament. Just imag- ine how much more she would be able to achieve when she has the input of a team of people on mat- ters of policy, research, ideas, etc." Interview MARCO CREMONA, temporary secretary-general of the newly launched 'Partit Demokratiku', discusses the birth-pangs of a new political reality in Malta PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD Marlene'