Arnold Cassola will launch a new party, called Momentum, in January with the aim of shaking up Malta’s bi-party system.
The independent MEP candidate confirmed the name of the party when contacted by Times of Malta but remained otherwise tight-lipped, saying only: “Everything in January.”
He previously said he would not like the party to be seen as “Cassola’s party” and repeated this sentiment, saying there were “a number of people in the party”.
The former AD leader missed out on a seat in the European Parliament in June, despite coming in third in first-preference votes. His 12,700 first-count vote tally was his best result since 2004.
The new party will also include software engineer Mark Camilleri Gambin, who has been involved in Cassola’s policy brainstorming ‘Vision Circles’ to envisage what a third political force might look like.
It is the second new political party to surface in a week.
Times of Malta has reported details of a new progressive party called Partit Malta Progressiva (PMP), il-Progressivi, which will comprise of individuals from different political backgrounds, including former officials from the Labour Party and the greens.
Both of the new parties aim to put an end to the Labour and Nationalist parties' dominance, however, there are many questions on whether or not the fragmentation of such third parties will aid them or divide the vote further.
Although Cassola was not willing to share much information regarding the party’s direction, his green principles will surely be a major factor.
The question surrounding abortion is also likely to emerge as Cassola left green party Alternattiva Demokratika (AD) – today ADPD – in 2019 because he was strongly against abortion. Instead, he decided to contest for the MEP election independently.
The party’s name is the same as the grassroots movement of the British Labour Party which was founded in 2015 after Jeremy Corbyn successfully became party head. However, Cassola said he had “no idea” what that movement was.
Increase in votes for third parties
Despite failing to be elected in June, Cassola’s strong showing encouraged him to remain politically active and he previously announced his intention to create a new party ahead of the general election, scheduled to be held by 2027.
During the 2022 general election, around 9,000 people voted for a third party or independent candidate and about 63,000 either did not vote or their vote was invalidated.
Then, in the 2024 European elections, the number of third-party or independent candidates skyrocketed to 33,103, while the number of non-voters or invalid votes increased to 110,000.
Although Malta’s electoral system – the single transferable vote system – in principle favours electing people from different parties by crossvoting, a deeply ingrained bi-party political culture has prevented this from happening.
There have also been calls to reform the constitutional provisions that make it more difficult for smaller parties and independent candidates to get elected.
Civil society NGO il-Kollettiv, which is not part of the PMP, is petitioning parliament to reform the electoral system, insisting electoral trends are being ignored because the system in place requires candidates to obtain 16.7 per cent of the district vote to be elected.
The activist group has also teased plans to form a party.
Cassola was one of the co-founders of AD in 1989, secretary general of the European Greens Party between 1999 and 2006 and he was a member of the Italian parliament between 2006 and 2008. Since 2019, he has been an independent candidate and contested the 2022 general election and the 2019 and 2024 European parliament elections.