More balanced representation

Kenneth Zammit Tabona's aptly named piece On The Verge... on the upcoming MEP elections (May 19) touched upon the need to vote for candidates who have the necessary experience "to milk the Brussels cow" and bring home the bacon.

He rightly suggests throwing partisan loyalty out of the window. Interestingly, the only candidate to get a mention was Simon Busuttil.

It is a known fact that EU laws are the result of tortuous negotiations between the various political groupings in the European Parliament, namely the right-wing EPP, the Socialists, the Liberals and the Greens. Arnold Cassola has many years of experience as general secretary of the European Greens. Having representatives in all the groupings is good for Malta. And the only way to attain this is to vote Green too. In the last MEP elections the closed-shop mentality of the two majoritarian parties undermined Malta's interests. Let's not be so narrow-minded this time round and vote for a more balanced representation.

Further on, the columnist bemoans the dearth of support for the introduction of divorce and gay rights. Alternattiva Demokratika has, from its inception, campaigned practically alone for the right to divorce and has been in the forefront in promoting gay rights. On the other hand, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi once said he would not accept any homosexual, divorced or cohabiting candidate in his party. Well, looking at the PN candidates it seems Dr Gonzi has come to terms with reality and is now slowly trying to look Green too, which is good. Hopefully, he will instigate Nationalist MEPs not to vote down Green initiatives in the European Parliament.

Since AD's policies seem to address the columnist's concerns, could I be so bold as to surmise that Mr Zammit Tabona is on the verge... of endorsing the Greens?