Arnold Cassola has informed Alternattiva Demokratika that he intends to step down from the chairmanship of the party.

The decision follows a poor showing by the party, which only got some 2,500 first count votes in the last general election, half the number of the previous election.

The university professor said he would remain active within the Green Party he helped found in 1989.

“It is important that the party moves on with an injection of energy rather than staying put,” Prof. Cassola said.

Party deputy chairman Carmel Cacopardo, who announced Prof Cassola's decision in his blog, said he expected to take on the responsibility of leading the party.

Mr Cacopardo defended his party's decision not to join the Forza Nazzjonali, coalition, whose candidates contested the election on the PN ticket.

AD, he said, was not against a coalition but against that form of coalition, which in effect meant the PN swallowing the other parties' identity. 

AD had for years been speaking on the need for a coalition or a pre-election alliance, and it would not stop now. 

However, what was even more fundamental was how AD could improve its organisational set-up to get its message across. 

While the party was clear in its political vision, it lacked the organisational machine to project it, he said. 

It was a problem which AD had suffered from since its inception in 1989.

Mr Cacopardo thanked Prof Cassola and said AD now needed to start a new chapter, a chapter which would marry the party's ideals with its organisational work.