Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/871892
14 The past year has been a strange rollercoaster ride for Malta's newest political party, the 'Partit Demokratiku'. On paper, its suc- cess has been meteoric: formed less than a year ago, it has already elected two MPs. But the circum- stances of their election makes it unclear whether they represent the PD or the Nationalist Party... on whose ticket they actually con- tested. And to make matters more confusing, its founder and leader, Marlene Farrugia, abruptly an- nounced her resignation, and is even considering a bid for the PN leadership in future. You yourself [Dr Anthony Buttigieg] earlier resigned as deputy leader. Under such circumstances: are people justified in regarding the PD as, at best, a somewhat chaotic flash in the pan? First of all, any new organisation that is forming its identity tends to have teething problems. Yes, maybe that's the impression peo- ple are getting at the moment. But actually, things aren't as bad as they seem. My own resignation as deputy leader was pretty public, and so were my reasons. Marlene, Godfrey and I still talk, we still dis- cuss things, and the same goes for other people in the party. We will be having our AGM in October – the exact date hasn't been set yet. Then we will form a new executive, and move on. But yes, the perception may be that, at the moment, we are not functioning properly. Yet if you look at the papers, the media... with all due respect to the PN, the only functioning opposition at the mo- ment is the PD. Both inside and outside parliament. We are coming out with proposals, criticism, etc. The PN is so focused on its lead- ership election, that it is not func- tioning as an opposition party at all. So even if we are a brand new party, probably one hundredth the size of the PN – if not less – the bulk of the work of opposition is coming through the PD at the mo- ment... That may be true, but it tells us more about the state of the PN than the PD. For instance: in whose name does the PD speak? Its two MPs were elected on the PN ticket, which also means that technically, they represent Na- tionalist voters. And besides, who else is there, anyway? There's the party executive: God- frey is not a member of the execu- tive; as an MP, he is there in an ob- server capacity only. But Marlene's resignation, even though she gave it in, was not accepted, and she is still acting party leader... Isn't that an abnormal situation, though? You have an acting lead- er of the party who has expressed an intention to contest for the leadership of another party... That is why we have to go through the process of having an AGM and election: in a way, like the PN are doing. The difference is, ironically, that the smaller party is functioning while going through that process, while the larger is not. And to be fair to her [Marlene]: at the very beginning, when the party was being formed, she had said that she would only be leader until the PD got onto its own two feet. She never said she wanted to be leader for the long term. To be honest, she actually wanted me to be leader initially... but I refused: nobody knows me; I was as well known to the public as my dog. That makes no sense at all: the party leader can- not be someone totally unknown. She should have been leader of the party; and that's what happened. But at the stage you're talking about, the party had yet to be even formed. Now it is not only a fully-fledged party, but it is also represented in Parliament. This in itself raises questions: is the PD in parliament on the strength of its own identity or message... or simply because, as a junior mem- ber of a pre-electoral coalition, it became an extension of the PN? That's a good question. We have to be absolutely, 100% honest about this: if we hadn't been in a coalition with the PN, it would have been much more difficult for people to be elected to Parliament. I don't think anyone should be surprised if I say that: it's a fact. But does the PD have its own identity? I would say yes, very much so. The whole reason people, myself included, joined the PD is that we were fed up with this 'revolving door' poli- tics we have at the moment. 'You scratch my back, I scratch yours'. And lo and behold: five years of 'corruption, corruption, corrup- tion'... and a new party goes into government, and does nothing about it. They're in cahoots with each other, in my opinion. Not all, perhaps; that would be unfair. But that was the perception I had, even from before March 2016... before I was even interested in entering politics. March 2016 is very recent. Did you ever consider political in- volvement at any time before? No. I had never been involved in politics in my life. I hated politics, in fact. The only time I ever went to mass meetings was pre-1987, and I didn't go there to support the Nationalist Party; I went to support my own concept of freedom. They won the election, and I never went to another meeting. I was, what, 25 years old? And that was the end of it, as far as I was concerned at the time. Would you have described your- self as a Nationalist before join- ing the PD? No. My family was politically mixed anyway. And besides, I was brought up in the UK; my parents emigrated when I was only six weeks old. I was brought up with the concept that politicians were there to serve the people, not vice versa. Coming to Malta was a bit of a shock. Here, it was the other way round. Politicians and parties were worshipped almost as gods. Almost like an alternative religion. I found it very weird, and I still do to this day. So to answer your ques- tion about 'what the PD stands for', I would say it is that. To give power back to the people. We are here to serve; not to use power to serve us. Now, people might say: 'oh, that's just something everyone who en- ters politics says... when they enter politics, it's not the case. It's not human nature...' I was about to say it myself... But I don't think it's a correct way of looking at things. I'm a doctor. In my profession, and the surround- ing professions: nursing, physi- otherapy, etc... there are a lot of highly qualified people who could work much better hours in another profession, making much more money. They don't. Why? Because they care. So there are people – a very large section of society – who care. There is no reason why there shouldn't also be politicians who care. The problem is, with the two- party system we have, even those within the two parties who do care tend to be emarginated. Because in a two-party race, you always have to be as dirty, or as wily, as the oth- ers. If you're honest, you're just not going to get there... you won't stand a chance. Yet both those two parties also claim they want to 'give power to the people'. It is, let's face it, a very vague and generic thing to say... and it could also be inter- preted as 'populist'. You could say that, but I do have something specific in mind when I say 'giving power back to the people'. I mean strengthening all the institutions that have been weakened over the years. We have institutions already in place; but through subtle ways, many of them are not functioning as they should. The Ombudsman, the Auditor General, the Attorney General, the police, the judiciary, the MEPA... all of these are not functioning properly. They were not put into place to empower certain people to get rich, or do what they like. They were put there to protect the peo- ple from government. Politicians, by nature, are power-hungry. Well, most of them, anyway. The whole point of those institutions is to put brakes on the politicians. At the moment, they're not doing that. So when I say 'power to the people', it's through the institutions... not by having mass protests, or any- thing like that. It is about making our Constitution, as it is, function as it should... In the meantime, the PD is in a coalition with another party... which is also going through semi- nal changes as we speak. In fact, the PN may well be a very differ- ent party in a week's time. This creates further confusion: the PD/ PN coalition was forged with Si- mon Busuttil, not with Adrian Delia or Chris Said. Where will this coalition stand after the change in leadership? That depends on who wins. Let me start by saying that – at the moment, insofar as the PD is con- cerned – I'm the only declared can- didate for the PD leadership. It's not a done deal; an election hasn't Interview By Raphael Vassallo maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 2017 Politicians, by nature, are power- hungry. Well, most of them, anyway. The whole point of national institutions is to put brakes on them. At the moment, they're not doing that 'Power to the people' With all due respect to the PN, the only functioning opposition at the moment is the PD... The PN is so focused on its leadership election that it is not functioning as an opposition party at all OPPOSITION INSTITUTIONS