Further to my opinion piece about the formation of new third parties, I’d like to add a reference to Marlene Farrugia’s success in getting Partit Demokratiku elected to Parliament in 2017. Both Marlene Farrugia and Godfrey Farrugia were elected on the list of the Nationalist Party, but Marlene and Godfrey Farrugia remained outside of the Nationalist Party group to instead take on their role as members of the Partit Demokratiku in Opposition.
This arrangement was unique and particular, but it got the Partit Demokratiku elected in Parliament making it the first time ever since a third party got elected in parliament in 1962. Before Partit Demokratiku, the last time a third party was in parliament was in 1989-1992 when Wenzu Mintoff, a Labour MP, defected from Labour to co-found the green party, Alternattiva Demokratika. Wenzu Mintoff remained in parliament as a member of Alternattiva Demokratika until 1992.
Then there was the 2004 European Parliament election where Arnold Cassola of Alternattiva Demokratika garnered up to 9% of the vote with 22,938 votes in total. Arnold Cassola wasn’t elected in the European Parliament but this was only because back then Malta was still restricted with up to 5 seats in total. Arnold Cassola never got that stellar result again.
I am not applying that Marlene Farrugia’s model should be applied today, but the fundamental principle remains the same. Marlene Farrugia ‘s aim back then was to get elected in Parliament and she did so strategically by allying her party with PN and also by selectively contesting the tenth district where her supporters were more numerous than her hometown’s electoral district. Eventually, as MP Marlene Farrugia proposed a private member’s bill to decriminalise abortion, which was turned down by both Labour and PN.
Third parties can learn a lot from this history which ultimately and clearly explains that critical mass and a sense of strategy is necessary to get elected in parliament. Marlene Farrugia did it because she has the strategic acumen of a winning politician: something that many third-party nominees still need to adopt as they overcome their activist mindset.
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