I recently had a conversation with a voter who was afraid of supporting the Democratic Party despite all our values aligning with hers. The fear was that by switching support to the PD, the government and Labour Party would be empowered, and the Opposition would be weakened.

This was an old argument I recall – back when the Nationalist battle cry some months ago was almost exclusively that the country needs a strong Opposition, and that should be reason enough to stick with the Nationalist Party for life.

My answer, of course, was that the government is only strengthened if voters move to support the Labour Party. Changing the composition of the Opposition does not empower the Labour Party. It merely changes the way that half of the pie is divided. 

Through the PD, there is finally a voice to speak up in favour of those who have always otherwise been ignored. The first major case of this was when the PD spoke up against the extension of hunting hours in Majjistral and culminated in the PD opposing the extension of MP pensions until the working man’s pensions are addressed.

Voters from both the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party should not be afraid to consider the third option. If they invest in it with their first preference, and offer their second to their traditional party, what they are doing is creating a watchdog and a check and balance. If the moderate people from both sides meet halfway in this fashion, the country is saved.