Cassola to contest Euro elections

Professor Arnold Cassola will be the only candidate contesting next June's European Parliament election under the Alternattiva Demokratika banner, his party announced yesterday.

The candidacy of Professor Cassola, who is also the general secretary of the Federation European Green Parties, was unanimously approved during AD's annual general meeting.

The June 2004 election will be the first since the introduction of self-government in 1921 in which the electorate would be free to express itself without the fear that an opposing party would win power, a beaming Professor Cassola told The Sunday Times.

"Unfortunately our party has always been weighed down by the claim that a vote for us is wasted," he admitted.

Asked which credentials the electorate should take into consideration to choose their representatives in the EP, Professor Cassola said that consistency and knowledge of EU affairs were certainly primary considerations.

"And without doubt I have learnt a lot about the subject in the past 15 years," he added.

What are his chances of getting elected?

"We are very optimistic - we have been meeting a lot of people who told us that for the very first time they were going to vote freely. We would consider it a big failure if we were to get less than the one per cent we got in the general election."

Professor Cassola, 50, is the Green Party's spokesman on EU affairs. He is a co-founder of AD and has been active in the European Greens since 1990.

In 1994 he was elected councillor for Swieqi on the first count. Earlier this year, he was re-elected unanimously by secret vote for a second term as secretary general of the European Greens until 2006.

AD chairman Harry Vassallo paid tribute to Professor Cassola, describing him as a central and instrumental figure within the Green group in the European Parliament.

Dr Vassallo expressed optimism over his party's future, despite its dismal showing during the April general elections.

Still, AD's "generous campaign" was instrumental in securing EU membership.

Speaking about the June elections, Dr Vassallo said the electorate had the best opportunity to eliminate political pique and opt for the best individuals to represent them.

Dr Vassallo said that AD's primary aim was to secure Professor Cassola's election and then launch a wide-ranging debate on the future of the party.

AD, he said, will also start scouring the island to ensure there were candidates to represent them in each of the local council elections, which are being held on the same day as the European election - June 13.

"We want to demolish the wall of shameless power, brick by brick, in order to build a new politics based on consensus, co-operation, transparency and respect for the rights of each other," he said.