Arnold Cassola praised by Greens spokesman

Arnold Cassola, Alternattiva Demokratika's candidate for the European Parliament elections, yesterday received a helping hand from Grazia Francescato, a spokesman of the European Green Party, who described him as a potentially highly qualified voice in the first European Parliament since EU enlargement.

"He is experienced and knows EU bureaucracy but is not a bureaucrat," she told a news conference at AD's offices in Sliema.

A one-time leader of the World Wildlife Fund in Italy and of the Italian Green Party, Ms Francescato said that as secretary general of the European Greens, Prof. Cassola had shown outstanding qualities of leadership and vision.

She said he had also earned great respect in the Greens' political family because of his solid principles, mentioning as an example his strong opinions against abortion within the Green Group.

"It is very important that Malta gains a voice in the Green political group. In the EP no group has an overall majority and smaller groups like the Greens and the Liberals have a great say when consensus is not reached," she said.

Referring to comments by the Prime Minister about the Greens, Prof. Cassola said he would like to remind Lawrence Gonzi that the European Greens were so important that in the difficult months when Malta's membership was being reactivated by the newly elected Nationalist government, he had used his influence within the German foreign ministry to achieve this aim.

The German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fisher, is a leading fugure in the German Green Party.

"May I also remind Dr Gonzi that his Latvian counterpart led the Latvian Green Party."

Prof. Cassola said the Greens had become principal actors on the European political stage. They had always voted in Malta's interest and insisted that Malta should have six seats in the European Parliament.

AD chairman Harry Vassallo pointed out that this time the Maltese electorate was not being called to elect the government of their country but to elect the best five candidates for the European Parliament.

Experience and consistency were the qualities a candidate must have in order to gain trust, he said.