Coalitions not an issue, PM insists

The Prime Minister yesterday brushed aside the possibility of an alliance between the Nationalist Party and Alternattiva Demokratika, saying coalitions were not an issue.

So far, he said, he had heard nothing but criticism against the government from AD so he could not see how he would form an alliance with somebody who was talking in exactly the same way as the Labour Party.

On Monday evening, Nationalist MP Clyde Puli said during a television programme that his party would never form a coalition with AD. Questioned about Mr Puli's declaration, Dr Gonzi said a general election was coming up and there were no issues of alliances.

The way AD was talking led him to understand that an alliance existed between AD and the MLP, he added.

Contacted later, AD chairman Harry Vassallo said this was baseless speculation on the part of the Prime Minister. He was sure the talk would have to be different after the next election.

Dr Gonzi said his party's position was clear: It would contest the election with a political programme based on concrete projects aimed at building on the progress the country had registered following EU accession and the adoption of the euro.

Last week, AD expressed confidence that it would form part of a coalition government after the forthcoming election, adding that having a government composed of more than one party would guarantee security to both winners and losers. Asked whether there had been any talks with the MLP about the possibility of a coalition, Dr Vassallo said both big parties had the same attitude and wanted to govern the country on their own. Talks on a coalition government needed to be carried out once the election results were in hand. He said his party's job included criticising the government's actions. Since decisions were taken by the government, one could only either criticise or praise it.

Earlier, Dr Vassallo had issued a statement hitting out at Mr Puli's comments, saying that such "extremism and irresponsibility" had become characteristic of some persons who had made it into the higher echelons of the PN, which he said was a party that was always known for its moderation, almost at all costs.

He said he would be very surprised if the Prime Minister shared Mr Puli's "fundamental aversion to everything Green" since Dr Gonzi had spent several sessions discussing a possible coalition with the Greens in 2003.

Mr Puli certainly did not express the sentiment of his party's supporters across the country who would have no objection to a Blue-Green coalition and would certainly prefer it to a Red-Green coalition and very much more to a Red single party government, Dr Vassallo said.

"AD has had the courtesy to publish its coalition proposals in anticipation of the election for our counterparts and voters to have prior notice. What we have in response is a fundamentalist rejection from Mr Puli."

The last coalition government in Malta was formed between the Nationalist Party led by George Borg Olivier and the Malta Workers' Party led by Paul Boffa as a result of the December 1953 election. It lasted slightly longer than a year.