Two former leaders of Alternattiva Demokratika doubt a third party can penetrate Malta’s two-party dominance, especially if personality clashes and minor political differences mean repeated splintering.

Michael Briguglio and Harry Vassallo both spent time at the helm of AD from the 1990s to the early 2010s but failed to make serious inroads in a political landscape dominated by Labour and the Nationalist Party.

The new year will see the official launch of two new parties, Momentum, fronted by another former AD leader Arnold Cassola and Partit Malta Progressiva (PMP), whose most high-profile member is ex-Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer.

Briguglio and Vassallo say they face an uphill battle. 

“Both the PL and PN are umbrella parties with disagreements on many issues within, but they learned to live within a broad coalition and not break up over every issue,” said Briguglio, who was AD chair from 2009 to 2013.

“If these new parties can’t even work together between themselves, how can they work in a (coalition) government,” he said.

Briguglio pointed out that both new parties are born out of political splintering. 

Another former leader of AD, Harry Vassallo, echoed similar sentiments.

Briguglio and Vassallo, who both led AD (now ADPD), spoke to Times of Malta as the two new left-leaning parties are set to officially enter the Maltese political arena in the new year.

PMP is set to be a centre-left liberal force led by Engerer and Silvan Agius.

Cassola was an AD candidate on several occasions and the party chair between 2013 and 2017 but left the party in 2019, citing disagreements over abortion. 

But Briguglio, who was AD chair from 2009 to 2013, said Cassola resigned from the Green party not only because of abortion but mostly over personality clashes with party leadership.

Engerer, who joined the civil society NGO il-Kollettiv shortly after its formation, left the group in August to form PMP together with three others. 

Il-Kollettiv is also planning to transform into a political party.

“The PMP is a splinter of a splinter,” Briguglio said. 

“Graffitti, an activist group, splintered into il-Kollettiv, which in turn splintered into the Progressives.”

Briguglio said that people who broadly agree on issues but form their own parties due to minor disagreements or personality clashes make it even harder for a small party to break into the electoral system.

Voters go to the ballot box to either choose the government they want or vote against a party they don’t want in government

Vassallo, who led AD from 1999 to 2008, said the idea of having three separate parties (ADPD, PMP, Momentum) with similar ideas is a “baħnanata” (very foolish).

“These parties need to join forces instead of everyone prioritising their own ambition. Otherwise, they are condemning themselves,” he said.

But internal disagreement is not the only issue keeping small parties behind, the two former AD leaders said.

Briguglio said that Maltese voters are still unwilling to vote for parties that might not end up in government.

“Voters go to the ballot box to either choose the government they want or vote against a party they don’t want in government,” Briguglio said. 

“So even if many voters believe in a small party’s ideas, they will still vote for a party that can be in government,” he said.

But even the European election, which does not determine who governs Malta, failed to elect candidates who are not from Malta’s two big parties.

“It’s true Cassola got a good result, but he still wasn’t elected,” Briguglio said.

“Overall, I’m not optimistic that the two-party system can change.”

Vassallo said Malta’s electoral system makes it “virtually impossible” to elect a small party to parliament.

The electoral system divides Malta into 13 districts. Each district elects five representatives through the single transferable vote system. A candidate needs around 17 per cent of the vote to get elected to parliament.

“If you put that quota in Europe, eight out of 10 of Europe’s parties would never be elected,” he said.

Vassallo suggested Malta do away with districts and have one list for the entire country.