Maltese Small Parties To Merge In Time For Next General Election
Two small political parties, Partit Demokratiku and Alternattiva Demokratika, will become a single legal entity once merger discussions are finalised, PD leader Timothy Alden has confirmed.
Talks of a merger between the two parties have been in the works from as far back as September 2019, in the hopes that a new third party will emerge in time for the next general election, which is set to take place in 2022.
Instead of a coalition deal, like that of Forza Nazzjonali in the 2017 general election, the merger will see the two parties join forces as a single party.
Timothy Alden also confirmed that the newly-formed ADŻ committee, currently the youth wing of AD, will serve as the youth wing for both parties. This was further affirmed by ADŻ co-chairperson Giosue Agius in his article “A democracy for us all” published on the Times of Malta.
When asked for further comments, AD leader Carmel Cacopardo reiterated that the merger is still a work in progress. However, he is hopeful that everything will be finalized soon.
In the run-up to the 2017 general election, Alternattiva Demokratika were in talks to join a coalition with the Nationalist Party, but the discussion fell through after the PN insisted that AD candidates should run under the PN ticket and AD said all PN, AD and PD candidates should run under a banner that would reflect the coalition.
On the other hand, Partit Demokratiku had joined forces with the Nationalist Party under the Forza Nazzjonali coalition, with its candidates running on the PN ticket with a side-note by their names on the ballot to specify that they were PD candidates. Two PD candidates, Godfrey Farrugia and Marlene Farrugia, were elected but ended up leaving the PD and staying on in Parliament as independent MPs.