A few months ago a group of people were in the process of forming a new political party.

The formation of a new party always makes headlines. We have had quite a few in the last 50 years. The PKM (Partit Kommunista Malti), PDM (Partit Demokratiku Malti), AN (Alleanza Nazzjonali) and AD (Alternattiva Demokratika), as well as other parties who have tried to make headway before.

So there is nothing new about this latest attempt.

The question whether Malta needs a third party in Parliament has been brought up as long as the two-party system has been present. The simple answer is that what the country needs and wants lies in the hands of the electorate. Our electoral system was originally designed for a multi-party system and for 45 years it returned more than two parties to parliament. For the last 50 years the electorate chose otherwise.

We have heard many times that our electoral system is to blame for our two-party system. I completely disagree. The Republic of Ireland, the only other European State to use the single transferable vote system for its national elections, returns more than two parties. As a matter of fact in its general election held just three months ago the Irish elected eight parties and 19 independent candidates. It took a number of weeks for a minority government to be formed.

The Maltese electorate appears to be happy with the two-party system and recent polls confirm this.

The rise of far-right parties across Europe should serve as an eye-opener, and we cannot give small, extreme parties a platform

We have had an active third party for the last 25 years. Alternattiva Demokratika has consistently polled around 1.8 per cent of the national vote in general elections. The latest polls suggest that although there is increased disenchantment with the traditional parties – especially among those who switched their vote to the PL in the last election – the green party remains stuck at 1.8 per cent.

Would a new party have a different fate? Time will tell but if past experience is anything to go by, I think it will be difficult for any party to make headway. The two-party system now appears to be embedded in Maltese politics.

Should we change our electoral system to embrace smaller parties? If so, which system should we adopt? Changing an electoral system requires the approval of two-thirds of the House. There has been an attempt in the past by the Gonzi Commission to establish a threshold of five per cent. If translated into votes it works out at around 15,000.

AD’s claim for a seat in Parliament has been based on the fact that its national vote tally is more than a quota in a district and therefore around 5,000 voters are not being represented in Parliament. This argument does not hold water for a very simple reason.

In our system there is always almost another quota of wasted votes in every district. Approximately 85 per cent of the wasted votes belong to the two big parties and less than 15 per cent to AD. Therefore, if one were to adjust for AD’s non-represented votes, you would have to do the same for the two parties, which would result in a much bigger Parliament.

We can also scrap our electoral system and go for a party list. This can be designed in a way to accommodate small parties. Then again we have to be careful. The concept of representation is not as straightforward as one might think. There is a constant debate on whether Parliament should be a microcosm of society or whether people can be better represented by MPs who are not necessarily part of their group.

In other words, if for instance Muslims make up five per cent of a society, the argument remains whether parliament should include five per cent of Muslims or whether the elected MPs represent the Muslim community effectively.

Any changes to the electoral system must ensure that our political system is not hijacked by a small party. The rise of far-right parties across Europe should serve as an eye-opener, and therefore we cannot give small, extreme parties a platform.

Furthermore, we cannot afford to have unstable governments as this will have a negative impact on the economy.

There are other pressing issues with our electoral system and the electoral process that need adjusting. After all, so far the only small party around, AD, is far off the five per cent mark suggested by the Gonzi Commission to make it to Parliament.

I think our system needs a complete overhaul. As a matter of fact I think that our entire political system needs a good shake up.

Would a third party prevail in the next election? That is a matter for people to decide. The electoral system should not be blamed for the non-representation of small parties. Small parties remain small only as long as the electorate wants them to remain so.

Hermann Schiavone is a Nationalist Party candidate and a political analyst