Coalition culture

Take Alternattiva Demokratika out of the political equation and all that is left is a 50:50 gamble in the winner-takes-all stakes. It seems to be what Austin Bencini prefers (Coalitions Are Not Made In Heaven, February 7). We have all been obliged to live by it for the past 41 years. He has acclimatised to it completely. Some of us find it less than perfect.

Many of us realise that single-party governments have permitted the wholesale destruction of our environment, the deterioration of our quality of life and the domination of our government's policies by a small knot of party financier speculators exposing us all to tremendous economic risks. Nobody seems to be able to control the construction industry and the government appears altogether immune to criticism. The Greens are recognised to be just the party to provide an effective check to arrogance and unaccountability. Does Dr Bencini need more? Does he want a word with Carmel Cacopardo to explain our dire predicament under an untrammelled PN government? Does he really prefer a single-party Labour government to a coalition?

AD - the Green party is part of the political equation. Not even the offer of a seat in Parliament without the blood, sweat and tears of contesting an election was enough to tempt us to renounce our right to contest our country's general election in 2003. We found the way to do so without endangering EU membership. We were rewarded for our commitment against all odds within 12 months with the support of 23,000 people in 2004, an increase in support of 1,300 per cent. The Greens are here to stay. In 2008, we will be elected to Parliament. I know what we have done differently. I know what tactics we have employed this time and what we used before. I know how many people I have met in home visits since May 2007. I know what their reaction has been. Dr Bencini has no idea.

Convinced that, at last, we will turn the tables on the other two parties that have changed the country's Constitution twice in their desperate efforts to prevent a multi-party democracy seeing the light of day, we must now examine the probable outcomes.

The first of these is that of a coalition government. We have had the courtesy towards the electorate as well as towards our colleagues in the other political parties to publish our list of coalition priorities. We have felt it our duty to do so. In this way everyone knows in advance what will lie on the negotiation table when push comes to shove. It is part of our tradition to have no secrets.

Dr Bencini also wants to know with whom we will form a coalition. My guess is that he would like us to declare that we will form a coalition with the PN. At this time nobody is elected to Parliament. Nobody knows what configuration will take shape after the election.

It also takes two to tango. For all I know Dr Bencini's party will refuse to form a coalition with the Greens. In the 2003 negotiations, Lawrence Gonzi found serious objection to an alliance with the Greens because it would offend the hunters, because it would offend the devout, because it would be demeaning for the PN, the august and long-established natural party of government, to be associated with the Greens, so small and so new.

That is the only experience I have of two-party negotiations in Malta. I sincerely hope that Dr Gonzi has overcome his hang-ups since 2003. I had no great respect for them then and would not have any now. In 2003, the PN hoped that, having had the benefit of the Greens' support in securing EU membership, it could persuade us not to contest the election thus legally eliminating our legal status as a political party for the 2004 EP elections. Had we accepted the PN offer of a seat in Parliament without contesting the election, our democratic credentials would also have been irreversibly damaged. We exited those negotiations not only unscathed as we had hoped, but with our status permanently enhanced by the offer we declined.

My guess is that this time around the PN's attitude will be different. Chances are that the MLP will also want to play ball after the election. It will be the first time that we will sit around a table with them and I am truly curious to know how they will behave. So far they have been even haughtier than the PN.

It is precisely because we have our own identity separate and distinct from the other parties that we can talk of coalition. Dr Bencini absurdly concludes that if a party is possessed of a distinct identity, it should always stand alone. It is only because we have our own political identity built over 18 years of political activity as a separate and distinct political entity that any coalition talks can ever be held. How else does he explain the existence of coalitions in every EU country except Malta and the UK? If it has to be explained to him, it might hardly be worth the bother.

It is the complete opposite of winner-takes-all and the 50:50 gamble. We intend to bring about a political culture change and we know that only we can be placed in a position to induce the other parties to achieve this development. It is this prospect which makes this election truly interesting. Another single-party government of whatever hue seems breathtakingly déjà vu by comparison.

At the end of coalition talks, assuming that the election results and the attitude of the other parties makes it possible, the Green leadership will consult the party rank and file. That too is in our tradition. It is for them that many of us have given so many years of our lives. It is for them to decide. In the past few days several hundred people have subscribed to the party. Since they also subscribe to our policies, they are all firmly committed to such crucial matters as EU membership, a Freedom of Information Act, a Whistleblower Act and a law regulating the financing of political parties. They must be convinced that we have negotiated a favourable arrangement with a coalition partner that means business and will go beyond tempting promises.

A crucial element for our members will certainly be the origin of cross-party votes that will have determined the Green success. Their crucial contribution will be respected. With the election of a Green MP, we will be able to document the vote transfers from the other parties. If a clear majority comes from one and not from the other this will be a significant, if not a determining, factor in the decision to be taken.

Despite Dr Bencini's negative disquisitions, a coalition is already in place on several levels, across party lines, in the hearts and minds of people who will vote AD first and last, with those who will vote AD and then another party and with those who will do the opposite and again with those who will vote AD last. We are delighted to be the meeting point in an otherwise deeply divided country. We know how to develop this superb sentiment for the benefit of all: a profound culture change.

Dr Vassallo is chairman of Alternattiva Demokratika - the Green party.