Arnold Cassola’s Momentum Party Set To Launch In January
Political veteran spanning over three and a half years decades Arnold Cassola has announced the launch of a new political party, Momentum in January which aims to challenge Malta’s two main political parties.
According to Times of Malta, Cassola confirmed the party’s name but held back on further details saying, “Everything in January”. He made it a point that this isn’t a “Cassola party”. Software engineer Mark Camilleri Gambin, who works closely with Cassola on policy discussions will also be part of this new party.
This is the second political party that has been announced this week which also wants to shake up the political system.
The other, Partit Malta Progressiva (PMP), which brings together diverse political backgrounds, including former officials from both the Labour Party and the Greens. This includes former MEP Cyrus Engerer.
Meanwhile, NGO il-Kollettiv which made it clear that it is not aligned with PMP, is petitioning for electoral reform, arguing that Malta’s current system marginalises smaller parties. The NGO has also hinted at potentially forming its own political party.
Cassola has made significant leaps and bounds in this year’s MEP elections, where he ran as an independent candidate. Despite earning the third-highest number of first-preference votes—12,706 in total—he did not secure a seat in the European Parliament. Malta’s single transferable vote system ultimately redistributed votes in favour of candidates from the dominant Labour and Nationalist parties.
This result was an overwhelming improvement from Cassola’s 2019 performance, where he received just 2,858 votes. Overall, he garnered 22,941 votes in 2024, reflecting growing public support for his platform.
At 71, Cassola remains a determined advocate for political reform and environmental sustainability. A co-founder of Alternattiva Demokratika (AD) in 1989, he served as secretary-general of the European Greens Party from 1999 to 2006 and represented Italians abroad as a member of the Italian parliament from 2006 to 2008. Since 2019, Cassola has contested elections as an independent candidate, including Malta’s 2022 general election and the European Parliament elections in both 2019 and 2024.
While Momentum’s launch are just weeks away, all eyes are on Cassola and his team to see how they will reshape Malta’s political scene.
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