Editorial: The brute reality of Maltese politics

Since 1989, Alternattiva Demokratika has never managed to garner anything beyond two per cent of the national vote in general elections. While it managed a whopping 9.3 per cent in the European Parliament elections of 2004, the figure dwindled to 0.8 per cent in 2022.

Its merger with Partit Demokratiku in 2020 failed to propel the party any further.

The departure of Arnold Cassola from ADPD, over a minor dispute on the party’s pro-choice platform, seemed to energise the indefatigable academic.

Active mainly via social media and operating all tools of political accountability available to him, Cassola catapulted himself into a one-man citizens’ rights watchdog.

His results served to attract a new cadre of young, liberal-minded, aspirant politicians whose more structured outlook on political organisation raised his new party’s profile, Momentum, to equal pegging with ADPD.

There is no doubt that news of a prospective coalition bid by ADPD and Momentum might be fortuitous at a time when the next election could see a record number of abstaining voters. The time is ripe to focus on a laser-focused strategy that actually wins seats at a district level. And this is where the new coalition needs to focus on – field just one strong candidate on each district.

The electoral math is clear: the size of the electorate voting on the promise of an upset of the bi-partisan system is minute

Easier said than done, certainly. Small parties tend to perform badly in elections simply because they are unable to deliver the goods and are prone to ideological tiffs that turn into a bit of a political side-show.

Structurally and politically, they are at a major disadvantage.

The internal architecture of the established parties is designed to create loyal candidates, promote vote-winners and shun those who stray from the party line. 

Small parties tend to be run by an all-seeing committee, where politicians and administrators are one and the same thing – low-stakes volunteers in a thankless job, unable to realistically solve people’s daily problems, unlike an MP, beyond a successful press communiqué.

There is also little political education to prepare third-party candidates for elections. In the large parties, young activists climb up the rungs as they learn the ropes and the art of compromise. Small parties attract inexperienced volunteers or puritanical activists.

Small parties cannot realistically compete on the direct benefits that accrue from winning government. Instead, they have to appeal to a different cohort of voters – often highly-educated voters with no partisan loyalty and attracted by ideological vision, or disaffected groups like the youth vote and casualties of big business and development projects.

Yet, the electoral math is clear: the size of the electorate voting on the promise of an upset of the bipartisan system is minute.

The other problematic factor is the absence of charismatic leaders. Cassola is as affable as they come, but he is a tried and somewhat tested politico. ADPD’s Sandra Gauci is the more unconventional leader, rising from a comedic content creator to the sole candidate for the leadership of the Green Party. Neither possesses the X-factor Maltese voters recognise in leaders, an element that is foundational to the success of parties.

That contrast can easily be seen compared to the UK with their own Green Party, where the self-styled ‘eco-populist’ Zach Polanski is taking on both Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Reform leader Nigel Farage by placing himself as the primary focus of his party’s electoral campaign with clear, direct political proposals and mediatic showmanship.

Comparisons are surely odious. But neither ADPD nor Momentum can avoid the brute reality of the way Maltese politics works, as evidenced by Labour’s success and, to a certain extent, Alex Borg’s result in shoring up dormant Nationalist Party voters. Ultimately, the power of a party’s ideas is beamed through the prism of the leader’s charisma.