Alternattiva Demokratika yesterday expressed confidence based on its calculations that it would be in the first coalition government in 41 years.
"Our presence in Parliament and in the government would help us start reversing a culture that was ingrained 41 years ago, causing lots of damage," its chairman Harry Vassallo said on the day the Prime Minster officially announced the general election date.
AD too was breathing a sigh of relief that the date was finally announced, following speculation since last September, Dr Vassallo said.
He hoped that the situation as experienced would bring about a change in the Constitution so that, apart from cases of emergency, it would not be possible for an election to be called early.
"Like other more civilised countries, the election date should be known five years before, ensuring certainty and an equal playing field not only for the political parties but more importantly for the economy," Dr Vassallo said.
The announcement of the election date meant AD would be giving its "last push" in a long race and months of hard work to offer the best service to the country by introducing a coalition culture.
"We need to understand that if we are not capable of working together, we would never reach the levels we could achieve if we did."
Stressing the importance of a coalition culture, he said the simple fact that the upcoming government would not be composed of one party would grant security to both winners and losers.
As things stood, thousands of Maltese and Gozitans did not vote for the party they believed in, but for the one they feared least, meaning they voted for the corrupt to avoid the violent; and for the arrogant to avoid the incompetent.
The end result was that they found themselves voting for the corrupt and arrogant, Dr Vassallo said.
In the coming weeks, Dr Vassallo envisaged harsh competition between the other parties, who would strongly criticise and discredit each other and in so doing discredit the country's political system and democracy in the eyes of the public.
He said he hoped that the campaign would be carried out in a more civilised manner than in the past.
Dr Vassallo is contesting the 10th district - which includes his home town, and the district where AD has consistently achieved "excellent" results. Although it was definitely the party's "target" district, it also had others, he said.
"AD is contesting every district in the country as it always has," Dr Vassallo said, aiming to offer everyone the option to vote for "the party it preferred and not for the lesser evil".
As regards support from Gozo, he said that, historically, AD had reached a level it would not even have dreamed of in previous elections.
"All we need is 2,500 votes," he said, pointing out that 11 MPs in a 65-member Parliament were elected without reaching the quota.
"It would be unrealistic to expect that we would be elected with a full quota on a first count," he said, adding that if it did, it would celebrate even more.
"We certainly can use and will be using number two and three votes. People from other parties - even the most partisan - should realise that cross-party voting in this election is a safety system for them. If they do not give us their last vote, they are basically voting for the other party."
Dr Vassallo said AD had reached critical mass: "It has grown too big for people not to give us at least a second vote.
"If they do not do that, when we are contesting with their rival and their candidates have all been eliminated for the last post, their surplus will be wasted.
"Thousands of votes in every election are wasted in the surplus of other parties; they should be careful to use them this time."
AD had always had a strategic approach to the local council elections, never contesting them all, Dr Vassallo said, adding that a decision on the matter would be taken imminently.