Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/785757
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2017 15 problem. I suppose you're now go- ing to ask me what would happen if the PN do the same thing?" As it happens: yes, I was. In fact, her own experience reinforces the point. Twice she has trusted the two parties when they were mak- ing grandiose promises from the opposition benches... twice she was disillusioned when both those parties sang a different tune when in government. What makes her think the next attempt will be any different? Is it a case of third time lucky? "Let me explain: you're asking me why I'm going back to the PN. But I'm not doing that. As a party, we would have our position..." It would still be in a coalition gov- ernment with the PN, though... "Yes, but we would have our own position: and it remains good gov- ernance, environmental and eco- nomic sustainability – unlike what happened under this government. We got elected on the battle-cry of environment, and in no time at all... just look around you..." But that's precisely the point of my question. She was disappointed by both parties on precisely the same issues... so isn't the likeliest outcome that the experience will just repeat itself? "No. Because if the people vote wisely [tajjeb]... if they elect a balanced coalition, that has the strength of people who have shown they will stand up for what is right... it will not happen again." But we've heard this so often in the past. When Lawrence Gonzi was elected PN leader (in 2004), the first thing he was asked was how his style of governance would differ from Eddie Fenech Adami's. His answer was 'the environment'. Two years later, people were pro- testing against the ODZ 'ration- alisation' scheme. There is a con- sistent pattern of this happening, regardless whether it's PN or La- bour... "Then we have to break that pat- tern." How? By entering a coalition with the same party – with nearly all the same people still there – which practically designed the system you hope to break? "You have to look at the available options. At this stage we're nego- tiating... but yes, the coalition is a possibility. But if we contest as only PD, we might elect one or two candidates... and Joseph Muscat's Labour Party would still have the majority. We would be there, de- bating, discussing, like I do in par- liament today..." That's another thing I was going to ask: PD is de facto already repre- sented in parliament, by means of Farrugia's seat. So how would that scenario differ, substantively, from the one she's in now already? "When you're in Parliament, you can argue, you can debate, you can raise very good points... but when it comes to a vote [she snaps her fingers]. It's useless. The govern- ment votes compactly: that was why I left Labour, in fact, over an environmental vote. In all cases, the last word is the government's. In the case of Zonqor Point, we spent an entire night debating and discussing; all for nothing. That's why we have to form a majority, to be in government..." But wouldn't it be the same type of government she'd be part of? Wouldn't it be a government com- posed of much the same people who had earlier disillusioned her, just as Labour did? "You're the one saying it will be the same. But if we form a coali- tion that elevates the PN – or the PL, for that matter: it doesn't have to be the PN to be in a coalition – into something broader than it is today... that attracts different people who are decisive, who are determined to see that what was promised in 2013, and what people voted for, is implemented... they would be part of the coalition. It will not be the same; no longer just a question of just 'PN' or 'PL'..." At this stage it's a hypothetical question, but if Farrugia feels her party can achieve this type of ef- fect with the PN... would there be circumstances she would consider a coalition with Labour? "In theory you could form a coa- lition with anyone. So yes. But the polls as they stand today suggest that Labour will still win an abso- lute majority..." That's why I asked the previous question. If I'm understanding cor- rectly, under the present circum- stances Labour would not need a coalition to govern, but the PN would. It's a question of necessity, both for PD and for PN. Doesn't this also imply that a coalition with the PN is also the only way for the PD, with Marlene Farrugia as its leader, to get into power? "Not just to get into power, but to govern properly... hopefully." But don't parties always say that they want to get into power to govern properly? Isn't that what caused all her earlier disillusion- ment? "Yes, you are right. But that's why we are trying to entice new people into politics – both people who have no direct experience, but also people of good will who used to be politically active – to be part of a prospective coalition that might be an alternative government if peo- ple vote for it. Remember that ulti- mately, it is the people who decide who get elected to Parliament. We need people of the best possible quality, because the coalition has to be higher than the two parties... or ours, for that matter." Interview Formerly an MP for Labour and a general election candidate for the Nationalist party, PD leader MARLENE FARRUGIA now hopes to form a 'new political force' with a serious chance of challenging Labour's parliamentary majority. But how credible can such an alternative government be? rnative governance PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES BIANCHI