Cassola no comment on possible resignation

Mark Casha

Jun 9th 2009, 10:59

Mr Calleja, I have no use for your pity.

I was simply showing you that being in a majority does not mean you are right. If you can't follow simple logic I'm not sure you can engage yourself in an argument without the risk of sounding silly.

You seem to think that this is a competition with winners and losers and that, unfortunately, is how many others view elections in Malta. Its always us against them. That is why we do not have political maturity yet. That is a mold that AD tried to break, but they were unsuccessful, because as I have iterated before we are not a mature electorate.

Also please stop referring to me as AD. I do not form part of any party and never will. I am not a fanatic or a lackey. I vote for people and ideals. So give me a decent candidate with decent credentials and decent ideals and I will back that candidate anytime.

D.Calleja

Jun 9th 2009, 00:18

@Mark Casha
“you seem to think that majority is the equivalent of righteousness. If we expand your logic, then Islam is the right religion as there are much more who choose that religion over Christianity. So make sure you go and convert asap. God forbid you are in the minority. You see I am not ashamed of being in a minority,”

I really pity you – you are completely and hoplessly lost for words and valid arguments. The right religion???? Christianity and Islam????

Utter nonsense!!! With comments like that it’s no wonder that you and your party are in such a miserable state of affairs.

If we expand YOUR logic then you should shack up with Imperium Europa and adopt their ‘religion’ –although they’re at a lower level on the national level when comparing minorities they must be more pleased with their overall performance then you are!!!

You have to accept that there’s no future for your party in the local political scene. Your radical ideologies and fixated mentalities have received an emphatic no confidence vote which only a masochist can ignore. Focus on the big picture and not on what might be motivating me!

Mark Casha

Jun 8th 2009, 23:25

Wilfred, we are in agreement. The line about seeing AD as a threat was not addressed to yourself but to Messrs. Calleja and Gauci. (

My point was that in this election AD was the only party not to base their agenda on one issue - all the rest have morphed into one voice championing the immigration problem. AD were positive, and gave real reasons not empty promises that ride on layman's fears. They explained the logic of why it is better to be in the 3 main parties rather than just 2 - which makes a lot of sense especially considering the influence Cassola wields within the European Green Party given that he was Secretary General.

So yes you do have a point however this time round it was more the partisan competition and xenophobic attitude that swayed the flock.

Wilfred L Camilleri

Jun 8th 2009, 21:45

Dear Mark: I don't see the AD as a threat. In fact, I see such movements as beneficial to the political system. I am just suggesting that to gain more popularity and elect some representatives to Parliament, they need to become more relevant. It's would be better if they had some representation in parliament where they could influence decisions and raise issues that the other parties don't.

Mark Casha

Jun 8th 2009, 20:00

Wilfred (Camilleri) - you have a point but the one-issue parties in this case were all the rest with the only issue being immigration. D.Calleja and P.Gauci - you seem to think that majority is the equivalent of righteousness. If we expand your logic, then Islam is the right religion as there are much more who choose that religion over Christianity. So make sure you go and convert asap. God forbid you are in the minority. You see I am not ashamed of being in a minority, because when the majority has become something corrupt and power hungry you don't want to have any part in it - and you're proud to be different from the 'massa' I don't know why you hate AD and wish it to never recover. Maybe you're a hunter or a contractor or a PN/PL stalwart who sees them as a threat. Whatever your misguided motives are, remember how you voted next time you complain about the state of your country. Ah yes and what you call a 'pseudo' morality is much better that not having any at all.

C Mallia

Jun 8th 2009, 18:07

AD - soldier on. Malta still needs you even if the results have been disappointing. You have been the party who have consistently spoken against the destruction of the environment and not bend your policies to the whims of financially and politically powerfull enterprises. The electorate still needs to have the option to show their green flag.

Joe Grima

Jun 8th 2009, 17:59

The time may also have come for the PN to re-consider. Politics has just become a new ball game where the rules are different, the emotions are different, and the Captain is new. It will not be easy for the PN to re-invent itself but perhaps the time has come for them to heed EFA's advice to Labour before the 1987 election "Morru Nhaslu Hasla". At that election the people took up EFA's call and sent Labour packing. This is what the Maltese and Gozitans have told their government at this election. After each defeat, government exponents say that they will heed the advice that the election results gave them. When is it ever going to happen?

Wilfred L Camilleri

Jun 8th 2009, 17:51

The problem with fringe parties like AD is that they are perceived and in most cases end up being one-issue parties. In order for these parties to make headway, they need to broaden their agenda to include other issues that concern the electorate. It's great to have the environment as an issue but it cannot be the sole issue and isolated from other issues the electorate is concerned about, including the economy, industry, living conditions, law, etc., etc. One-issue parties never become relevant.

Joe Grima

Jun 8th 2009, 17:48

This is not the time for Arnold to take decisions, not while he is still smarting at public rejection of AD at the EU polls. What he should understand is that, except for the contenders, this election had little or nothing to do with the EU. In this election, ordinary citizens whose face never appears in any newspaper wanted to show their Government that, while Minsiters may have the power to tax us all to high heaven; while a government with a one-seat majority has the gall to enact totalitarian-style retroactive legislation annuling decisions of the Constitutional Court and still call itself democratic; while an ever growing disbelieving public is lied to by the highest in the land, barfacedly and without compunction; while arrogance from high abounds; people are not idiots and real power is theirs to wield. In Joseph's coalition of progressives and moderates people found the fullest expression of their innermost suffering and paid back their pain with interest. In politics when a man of courage emerges, change comes fast. Those who do not adapt will simly wither away and vanish. Parhaps AD should start considering morphing as the coalition's green guardian while maintaining its individual personality ......contd

D.MANGION

Jun 8th 2009, 17:29

(part 2)

I just hope that they persevere.

However if they give up, I wouldn't blame them. Malta seems to be comfortable enough with it's bi-partisan network. The Maltese seem to be satisfied with their blackmailing system of "aqdini ghax immur ghand tal-faccata". The Maltese look down on the Italians who change their government every 2 years or so. We think that they are stupid...yet the Italian workers go out on pension at 58 (we still have to sweat it out for 5 more years). Their working conditions are by far better than ours. They earn more for working less than us...AND THEIR ECONOMY IS STILL AMONG THE BEST ON THE PLANET. That is why they are in the G8.

If AD dissolves into another NGO, I will join Malta's third largest party. The party that the gaints like to lick.....the party of "the non-voters". The party that will never be in parliament. The party of the indifferents, the egoists, the invisibles.

What a sad day would that day be !

D.Calleja

Jun 8th 2009, 17:19

@Mark Casha and J.Borg

Listen to yourself talk!! Just admit that the result has marked your death knell.

You still talk as if you are the only salvation for our country. You rant about a misguided electorate who dared not to back you up. Hello!! You are the minority and the elections MUST HAVE MADE IT LOUD AND VERY CLEAR FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND!

AD will not recover and thank God for the good sense shown by the electorate.

D.MANGION

Jun 8th 2009, 17:15

(Part 1)

Since it's inception, I have always voted for AD...for 2 main reasons.
1- I believed that Malta needs a multi party system, where coalitions would have to be formed and where nobody would be able to think that their reign could last forever.
2- I believed that the environmental issues needed to be put higher in the priorities of Malta's politics.

Both reasons fitted perfectly for my aim to vote AD. BOTH REASONS ARE STILL VALID TODAY.

But yes....I do feel guilty about the fact that whilst a handful of genuine persons like Dr. Cassola, Stephen Cachia, Victor Galea, Carmel Cacopardo and the remaining men at the front, do all sorts of sacrifices so that maybe, one day my dream might come true, I sit on my sofa, blog on my PC, and lead my normal life, and even find time to give suggestions, just like the typical armchair critic.

And what do they get in return ? The approval of 3 out of hundred Maltese citizens.

Should I thus be surprised if they decide to dedicate some more time to their families and their loved ones ?

(continued)

M. Spiteri

Jun 8th 2009, 17:11

@Paul Aquilina
Let ma assure you that throughout history the PL suffered most because of AD. In fact it was created in the hope of splitting the PL. Luckily they did not succeed.

P. Gauci

Jun 8th 2009, 16:51

@Mark Casha:

"So its official - us Maltese are a xenophobic, myopic, egoistic, survivalist lot."

There we go again. Left-wingers trying to lecture us and trying to impose their pseudo morality on us.

This election showed clearly that when it comes to immigration, AD's proposals are not similar to those of the majority of the Maltese people.

Mark Casha

Jun 8th 2009, 16:12

So its official - us Maltese are a xenophobic, myopic, egoistic, survivalist lot. We don't care about the environment, we are happy to vote for people with twisted and warped ideals or none at all. The two main parties have lapped up the right wing extremists' manifesto and forgot about their socialist or Christian democrat roots. And now they celebrate their wins. What wins? What are they celebrating? The fact that Malta was a great place but is now full of sad egoistic individuals with no principles? Is this what we've become?

Someone criticized AD for not standing against immigration – I hail them for it, because much as I think that something should be done about it, I think there are many other issues which are of importance and which AD have mentioned in their manifesto. They are the only ones who actually did not jump on the vote-seeking bandwagon that was the immigration issue.

It is a sad day indeed and all should be ashamed of themselves. This election is not a vote of no-confidence in the government or in parties like AD - it is a vote of no-confidence in our conscience.

D.Calleja

Jun 8th 2009, 15:36

As Cassola rightly states this was not a general election that could have jeopardized the incredibly polarized and no-risk mode of voting of the electorate during such elections. The EU elections was the only opportunity for a small party like AD to win votes from the disgruntled supporters of the major parties and realistically hope that in the process it could achieve significant success. After this verdict the AD is finished. It has lost all its luster and credibility.

Analyse the AD results together with the results of other candidates from PL and PN who uphold the same strong beliefs and boast environmental credentials. These results speak for themselves.

The Maltese are fed up of hearing these people impose their ultra-conservative views on environment protection. They have taken sustainability arguments to extremes and people are intelligent enough to ignore their Armageddon theories. Their usual extremist stands, where no other element is allowed to be weighed in against their arguments, have now even alienated the moderates who initially believed they could have made a valid contribution to the local political scene.

I cannot interpret the results any differently. Can you?

J. Borg

Jun 8th 2009, 15:33

AD should become more focused, and be the political party that remains on the forefront on environmental issues – which ultimately sustain our quality of life – it cannot afford to stretch its limited resources (it shuns contractors’ & businesses’ “donations”) to express its position on every issue. Seriously tackling the environment is a Herculian Task already.

It should focus to be the political watchdog to ensure that EU directives and regulations are effectively implemented. Come next election, the focus would be to convince enough voters to use the transferable vote wisely and elect an AD candidate whose integrity and commitment about the environment are second to none.

In the meantime the pressure to have the overdue electoral reform and transparent party financing needs to be intensified.

J. Borg

Jun 8th 2009, 15:32

PN will try their best to write-off AD, and the haunting possibility of ever having to bear the checks that a small party of undisputed integrity would require any government to maintain. As evidenced in the last two general elections and EP elections, the PN prefers to hand victory to PL rather than having AD break the PNPL duopoly.

One trusts that with these EP elections results, the “supposedly democratic” PN does not try to sweep the overdue reforms concerning the electoral law and effecting transparent party financing under the carpet. Likewise PL should not believe it can sustain any majority, let alone an absolute one come the general elections.

AD – will remain Malta’ Green Party – and the PN can continue to persist in their self-defeating attacks and Machiavellian tactics on AD.

Malta already has a handful of dedicated NGOs who are striving to make a stand against the onslaught on the environment – and eventually Malta will realize that our environment can be effectively protected by having the accommodating main political parties being held accountable for the abuses they allow during their (till now) absolute “reigns”.

Sander Depasquale

Jun 8th 2009, 15:28

The problem of AD is not Arnold Cassola. The problem of AD is their root policies, it is the party of the rich people with rich leftist ideologies in their head. I think that it is a humiliation for AD to end up losing by such a huge margin. They can now easily compare their failed ideolgies to the failed ideologies that they say Norman Lowell's Imperium Europa have.

J Oatmon

Jun 8th 2009, 15:20

In my opinion, the linking of 'Green Policies' to the AD party's mainstream policies, in these times of financial stress is seen as either not practical, or just a distraction from more important policies.
Immigration is another sore point, there needs to be a practical approach not a 'utopian' approach - this world is not a nice and fair 'brotherly love' sort of place, it is fully of deceit and trickery, crime and treachery.

Marco Cremona

Jun 8th 2009, 15:20

Hold on Arnold. Success is not only measured in votes.

AD is a still very influential political force, particularly where it comes to environmental matters .... the very existance and influence of AD is particularly important these days when Malta is facing some very serious sustainability challenges and when the quick-fix alternative is always beckoning.

AD is the voice of reason in a situation of apparent mess (MEPA, renewable energy, ait quality, use of resources etc.)

i bonnici

Jun 8th 2009, 15:01

typical. They bray for blood when others falter but are as mute as stones when they themselves fail.

N Camilleri

Jun 8th 2009, 14:59

I believe that with no members in the Maltese and European Parliaments, AD is still important to the Malta, as only AD has been consistently transmitting important messages, such as those on environment. So, I believe that AD, with no Parliamentary members and with few journalists as the only audience in their 'mass meetings', is still leaving a very positive impact on the government, and Malta in general, and should continue delivering its messages in a consistent way.

Stephen Farrugia

Jun 8th 2009, 14:58

F pajjiz demokratiku u partiggjan, ma hemmx post ta dubju li ahna demokratici. Allura, Lebda Alternattiva m hi ha tamel sens.

Rebecca Sultana

Jun 8th 2009, 14:50

It would be a great pity if Dr Cassola resigned. He hasn't been AD's party leader for long. He still has a long way to go. I have faith in his capabilities and truly hope he hangs in there because Malta needs not only competent politicians but GENUINE ones - a quality I feel Dr Cassola has in bucketfuls!!
The MEP results have nothing to do with his competence as a leader or politician.
One may not agree with AD politics but AD is possibly the only party that remained consistent about their values and opinions... and in my opinion, having Dr Arnold Cassola as leader makes them even more credible.

Paul Aquilina

Jun 8th 2009, 14:37

Alternattiva Demokratika exists to obstruct P.N and help Labour no less no more

Jake Micallef

Jun 8th 2009, 14:35

If anyone bothers going through AD results history I think they would find that they have been shrinking in results not growing... despite an increased presence in media, advertising and more aggressive campaigns. (Barring the anomaly 5 years ago in the last MEP elections). It would be way more fruitful for the company and AD itself if they stop trying to be a "party" and just be an environment lobby group bringing together the various environ NGOs. Better way of spending money and efforts....more effective too. But first they need to stop being bitter about the whole elections thing and kill their own political agenda...and just have a green agenda, independently of who is in government.