AD in leadership vacuum, general meeting postponed

Alternattiva Demokratika's annual general meeting planned for this Saturday has been called off because nobody has come forward to contest the vacant leadership post.

In a message sent to party members, secretary-general Ralph Cassar wrote: "This is to inform you that since there were no nominations for the post of Chairperson of the party, the Annual General Meeting which was to be held next Saturday 25 May is postponed to a later date, until a way forward is identified."

AD's leadership problems commenced in the weeks following the historic result achieved in the 9 March elections, in which the party garnered 1.8% of the national vote, the best result for AD since 1992.

Michael Briguglio, who led the party to its best ever result, resigned a few weeks after the election result citing personal reasons for his decision, which came as a shock to many.

"There are absolutely no political or career motives or aspirations for my decision. If life is a question of 'to have or to be', I wish to opt for the latter," he wrote on his blog.

However, MaltaToday is informed that AD was split between those who believed in Briguglio's 'radical green' ideology and those who resented his "focused, ideological line".

The man who temporarily replaced Briguglio, Carmel Cacopardo reportedly led the criticism that the Green party must 'centre' itself away from Briguglio's more left-wing direction.

On his part, Cacopardo said he had no intention of taking up the job permanently. However, the AD acting chairperson made it clear that he would not "disappear" from politics and insisted that he would remain at the helm of the party until a younger generation takes over in May.