AD unveils Greens' manifesto for Euro elections

Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Harry Vassallo insisted there is no Maltese politician who has as high a profile in the European parliament as Arnold Cassola.

Prof. Cassola, who is the AD candidate for the European parliament elections, stands head and shoulders above the other candidates for the EP election, Dr Vassallo added.

"It would be a shame and a great loss for Malta if Prof. Cassola is not elected an MEP. Voters should exploit the potential of this candidate who has been tried and tested," Dr Vassallo said.

Prof. Cassola, who is general secretary of the European Greens, is widely travelled and is familiar with the conditions of all EU 25 member states, the AD chairman noted.

Dr Vassallo was speaking during the launch of AD's election manifesto on Saturday which, incidentally, is printed on recycled paper. The party's programme is based on the theme Work, The Environment And Democracy.

Prof. Cassola had assisted the government to reactivate Malta's application to the EU after it had been "frozen" by the Labour Party and, moreover, provided the government with key contacts during the negotiations leading to EU membership, Dr Vassallo noted.

He described the June 12 elections as a "watershed in politics" arguing that the two main political parties in Malta will be at a loss on how to behave in the Euroepan parliament, which is essentially a multi-party system where none of the parties can move ahead without support from other parties.

Prof. Cassola argued that neither the Nationalist Party nor the Labour Party would lobby against the hunting of birds in spring because both parties had bound themselves to appease the hunting lobby.

"It was a great pity that a documentary that CNN chose to screen about Malta did not highlight its prehistoric temples and cultural heritage but rather the killing and trapping of migratory birds," Prof. Cassola said.

Present for the news conference was Paolo Bergamaschi, the Green expert on foreign policy, who said that the Greens were against the war in Iraq and continually push for conflict prevention and resolution instead of war.

The Greens favour crisis management in order to mitigate conflict, Sig. Bergamaschi said.