‘An Extraordinary Showing’: MEP Peter Agius Extends Olive Branch To Cassola
New Nationalist MEP Peter Agius has extended an olive branch to independent candidate Arnold Cassola, praising his performance at the European Parliament election as an “extraordinary showing”.
“Arnold, well done to you and your team for your extraordinary performance,” Agius told Cassola.
“I closely followed your campaign because we had met up at several debates. I see in you an admirable sense of determination and integrity. There are political points that we disagree on but it doesn’t mean that we cannot collaborate for common goals.”
Cassola was the third most popular candidate in terms of first-count votes, winning an impressive 12,706. However, he struggled in terms of inherited votes and ended up finishing in eighth place, behind the six elected MEPs and PL candidate Claudette Abela Baldacchino.
He said his campaign must form the basis of a new “centre-green-left” coalition and issued a call for volunteers to join his team, which around 150 people signed up to as of last night.
However, former AD leader and PN MEP candidate Michael Briguglio expressed a degree of scepticism, pointing out that ADPD already serves as a ‘centre-green-left’ party and that “talk of a broader green-left formation has been making the rounds since the 1990s but never really succeeded for various reasons”.
“Arnold had it easier this time around also because practically all the independent media gave him lots of favourable coverage. If his centre-green-left party is formed, I wish it luck, particularly in deciding who will lead it and in having an agreed stance on various issues,” he said.
“In the meantime, I reiterate that the only alternative government to Labour is the Nationalist Party (and vice-versa) – and it is the people who have been consistently showing this through their free vote in the past decades.”
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