European credentials

The race is now on for the Euro elections on June 12. Alternattiva Demokratika decided on Arnold Cassola's candidature in October last year. The Labour Party had a complicated change of heart in its selection of candidates; eight were earmarked; only four were taken in November 2003; the others protested; a second round was held in February 2004 and now there are eight MLP candidates for the June poll.

I will not comment on the quality of candidates the MLP is presenting. It will be the electorate that will judge on their validity and consistency after most of them, with some minor exception, had been vehemently against Malta in the EU for the past 12 years or so!

As regards the Nationalist Party, the party has so far officially announced eight candidates. One or two of them are certainly well versed in EU matters but lack both experience in politics and a first-hand experience of the European parliament.

As for Prof. Cassola, he has been meeting NGOs and individuals all this time and it is obvious that people are realising day by day how important it is for Malta to be represented in a third group in the EP since, were it not for AD and the Greens in the EP, a good number of issues of Maltese interest, such as hunting in spring, the Mnajdra landfills, the unpreparedness on the Maltese language, the voting rights of the Maltese abroad, the specific problems concerning Gozo and others, would have never been brought up in the EP.

Of course, it will not be an easy task for AD to elect Prof. Cassola as MEP. But when have things been made easy for AD by the establishment during the 15 years of its existence? The people at AD are used to fighting to assert themselves and their ideas. And it is now realistically becoming more and more possible for the Maltese to elect AD and Prof. Cassola to the EP.

Voters are realising that there are two characteristics which distinguish Prof. Cassola from other candidates. The first is consistency. Prof. Cassola is not a candidate who has adapted his views on the EU to suit the mood of the day but has had a consistent approach to the subject in his 27 years of writing in newspapers and in his 15 years active as a politician.

In the second instance, there is his political experience. He has been involved in European affairs for the past 15 years. There are certainly a couple of rival candidates who share this good knowledge of the EU with Prof. Cassola. However, he has also had personal direct experience of working in the European parliament as a politician for over four years. He is the only Maltese who has this experience as a politician and it seems that Maltese voters are recognising the fact that Prof. Cassola has worked for the general good of Malta and all Maltese and Gozitans as a politician in the European parliament during the last four years.

It will be up to the Maltese and Gozitan people to judge whether Prof. Cassola deserves to be among the five Maltese who are best suited to represent and work for their compatriots in the European parliament during the next five years.