Updated 4.58pm with Godfrey Farrugia comments

The Democratic Party's deputy leader Timothy Alden has insisted he will not be quitting the party, amid questions about the PD's future prompted by the resignation of its only two MPs.

"I am not quitting anything. I have made it clear many times that I do not intend to cease my duty to the PD or the country,” Mr Alden told Times of Malta.

Mr Alden declined to say whether he was interested in running for party leader. 

“The executive will decide the best way forward in the country’s interest. Until we meet and discuss and everybody has been heard, nothing is set in stone,” he said.

The PD's top brass will be meeting on Wednesday evening to plan the way ahead for the young party, which was created just over two years ago. 

A questionable future

Its future was thrown into question last week, when its only two MPs, Godfrey and Marlene Farrugia, said that they were quitting.  

They retained their parliamentary seats as independent members of the Opposition.

In their resignation announcement, the two said they were bowing out to give the PD “a chance to rebuild into a party the electorate needs in time for the next elections”.

Mr Alden (right) with former PD leader Godfrey Farrugia. Photo: Facebook

Following May’s MEP election, when the PD garnered just 2% of the votes, the party has been going through turbulent times.

In the wake of the disappointing result, Godfrey Farrugia, then party leader, had announced his resignation but stayed on in a caretaker role until last weekend, when he exited the party. The executive committee had also announced its intention to resign following the party's performance at the ballot box.

Forza Nazzjonali 

Set up in 2016 by Marlene Farrugia, the PD  elected two MPs in the 2017 general election thanks to a coalition agreement allowing its candidates to contest on the Nationalist Party ticket.

However, relations turned sour soon after Adrian Delia was elected PN leader and the Forza Nazzjonali coalition, as it was called, was dissolved a few months later.

The party’s top post has been vacant since May, when Godfrey Farrugia and the executive announced their intention to resign following the European Parliament election.

Since 1964, no third party has ever managed to elect an MP on its own steam, rendering the Maltese political system a two-party system between the PN and the PL.

Farrugias defend decision to quit

Godfrey Farrugia argued that him and Marlene Farrugia’s resignations would make it easier for the PD to reinvent itself. 

“We resigned because the party will attract a wider participation without us, simply because it will be able to rebrand completely, not just appear to rebrand, but actually dismantle and rebuild itself completely with fresh faces which the local political scene seems to be craving for,” he told Times of Malta. 

Their decision to not contest the next election was in view of government’s plan to introduce quotas to increase the number of women in parliament. 

Noting that his partner Marlene considered the proposal “an insult”, Dr Farrugia jokingly remarked that she had no intention of changing her sex. 

“If she decided to become a man somewhere along the way, to avoid the humiliation of becoming a token in parliament, she will let you know,” Dr Farrugia remarked. 

As for the rest of this legislature, he said they would strive to make best use of the time left to them in the national interest.

However, the Farrugias insisted that their resignation from the PD did not mean they would be ceasing their political activity. 

“We just said we are not contesting elections, currently openly and shamelessly rigged by who acquiesces most to corruption and spends most ill-gotten money,” they said.