‘Does Malta have a shot at clean politics?’ - the ADPD edition - The Critical Angle Project

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‘Does Malta have a shot at clean politics?’ – the ADPD edition

By Julian Delia（https://cap.mt/author/julian/） August 31, 2025 No Comments（https://cap.mt/2025/08/31/does-malta-have-a-shot-at-clean-politics-the-adpd-edition/#respond） 32 min read

Home（https://cap.mt/） » News（https://cap.mt/news/） » ‘Does Malta have a shot at clean politics?’ – the ADPD edition

Date of interview: 18/8/2025

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

So, Sandra – thanks for welcoming us on ABS News’ legendary couch. I’d been meaning to sit here for a while before this interview!

I wanted to start by asking you about the work you’ve been doing as a local councillor in St Paul’s Bay, as well as the work that is being done on Attard’s local council by your colleague, Ralph Cassar.

This is your first experience as a local councillor. So, explain that to me – how’s it going?

“Well, when it comes to the work itself, you can tell there’s a lot of bureaucracy involved. It’s incredible; for every little thing, you need to know who owns what, who’s responsible for maintenance, and so on.

It’s like a serious investigation is required every time you want to do something. When it comes to me and the work I’m doing as a councillor, it’s mostly answering people’s questions on a daily basis.

Recently, I also presented a draft proposal that concerns the tourist tax. Currently, this tourist tax goes to the Malta Tourism Authority. As a party, we believe that this tax should go to the local council.

If not all of it, at least part of it. For those who don’t know, this tax is used for cleansing and maintenance services, which is something that we really lack in St Paul’s Bay. So, this would help us bring more people to do regular cleaning, because as we all know, we have a huge problem with cleanliness here.

Because of this, I am putting forward this proposal so that, as a council, we can access these funds. I also hope that this creates a ripple effect by enticing other local councils to do the same in localities that see a lot of tourism.

We are also currently working with a street artist so we can paint a mural in Xemxija. He financed the project himself, we just spoke to the people who own the property and made the connection. He is currently preparing the facade so he can start painting it soon.

I also helped St Paul’s Bay’s primary school to tap into Arts Council funding so they can also get a mural painted on their building. This is all apart from the ongoing work I do to raise awareness about the uptake of public space on our beaches – as usual, keeping watch for those who want to take our beaches.

Naturally, when it comes to these kinds of things, people come to me. In Attard, Ralph Cassar is working very hard. He is expanding the local library, because he’s a teacher like me and we both love reading and we both believe we should finance these libraries.

He is also working on more tree-planting and the general embellishment of the locality. These are among the things he is working on.”

Okay, so, just to recap – you mentioned a lot of daily maintenance and the general upkeep that keeps the civic wheel turning.

I would expect a local council to be busy with that kind of work, so I have no doubt you’ve had your hands full.

“Yes, I think our local council is hands down the most difficult one in Malta. Nobody denies this.”

That’s interesting – why do you think so?

“Well, first of all, it’s because we have the biggest grouping of localities. There’s six in total. I hope I don’t forget anyone, but in St Paul’s Bay, we have Qawra, Buġibba, St Paul’s, Wardija, Burmarrad, and Xemxija.

So, it’s a big challenge. It’s also a very multicultural place. They’re the kind of challenges which are specific to this region, and we need a lot of external help. There are a lot of good people within the council, but we need a lot more help with cleaning, integration services, and lots of social cases, too. There’s a lot going on.

Since I’m not just a local councillor but also a teacher in this same locality, I get a different perspective on what’s going on. There’s a lot of problems.”

I was going to ask you about what you think is good about being on the council and what you think needs to be improved.

Obviously, this job brings you very close to what people are dealing with. You get to feel their pulse on a daily basis.

However, you mentioned a lot of things which are not going well just now. Besides the bureaucracy you mentioned earlier, you’re mainly talking about a lack of resources here, no?

“Yes. When it comes to finances, local councils are always limited. We are being very careful with our spending, of course, to make sure that there is no waste. I pay particular attention to this.

I firmly believe in making sure that we’re very careful with the council’s finances…I used to think that I knew what bureaucracy looked like until I came face to face with it, and it’s honestly suffocating.

Nobody wants to be responsible for anything and nobody seems to know anything about anything. Like I said, sometimes it takes a lot of searching and investigating just to get something relatively small done.

It’s honestly embarrassing sometimes, because I end up being unable to deliver what I promised. After a year, I’ve grown more used to the maneuvering that needs to be done, so it’s better now. I was a bit lost for the first three months.”

After a year of dealing with the same authorities, I think they eventually start to get used to you and they’ll generally know what to expect if they get a call from you.

“Yes, and you need to keep pestering them, otherwise you’ll get nothing if you just give up.”

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from this whole experience you just described? How does it inform your perspective as a politician and the leader of a party?

“I learned that you really need to think carefully about what you’re going to do, how you’re going to put it, and which channels you should use, because otherwise, you’ll find someone who will obstruct your path.

You need to say things in a certain way to bring everybody on board so you can avoid anyone who may want to sabotage you. It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible. You need to give people a certain perspective – if something is good for the locality and you vote against it, then you need to know that you’ll be cast in a bad light because of it.

“You need to do your homework really well beforehand, you need to know the people who are in front of you really inside out so you can understand what their issues are and use that in your favour.”

I understand. You learned to navigate a new kind of diplomatic territory. After all, you’re a sole representative on this council.

“Yes, exactly, so I need to do a balancing act between both sides. On the whole, I think I’m doing well, though I believe more needs to be done. We’ll keep working.”

Fair enough. I wish you well for the rest of this legislature.

“Thank you.”

Let’s move on to another topic, which is still somewhat related.

As we said before we started this interview, last year’s local council elections were ADPD’s first electoral success in years.

However, this progress has not yet been translated to the national scale, be it in general elections or MEP elections.

A big reason why I’m interested in this interview is that I believe that Malta’s political landscape is at an inflection point.

It is statistically clear that the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party are losing the total grip they had on political power. A third of the electorate doesn’t like one or the other.

Having said that, this hasn’t translated into votes for you.

So, for the upcoming general elections, what are you going to do differently this time around, so you can succeed where you previously didn’t manage?

A photo of ADPD chairperson Sandra Gauci at the counting hall during the local council elections. Photo: ADPD

“Well, I think we were always consistent, and we are not sponsored. We don’t have any of these developers behind us. As we’re currently seeing, Malta became a victim of these oligarchs who have their puppets in Parliament, just like we saw here (in Qawra), when both parties voted in favour of（https://theshiftnews.com/2023/03/29/parliamentary-committee-votes-to-give-coastal-areas-to-developers/） giving AX Group 13,000sqm of land.

We are not sponsored. In fact, that’s my idea for our electoral slogan. We are the only voice of the citizens, and we will fight for citizens’ rights by carrying that voice forward. You need to give us strength to do so.

We want to earn because we understand that it must be earned, and we believe we are consistent enough to win people over.

I know that some people feel like it’s almost physically impossible for them to vote differently to what they usually vote for, but by being consistent and by doing things like the unprecedented court case we filed to change the electoral system (which we’ll get a judgement for in October), we can win.

These are things which can elect us to Parliament. There are certain things which effectively fuse the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party into one thing, things which make them quickly forget the differences that they are supposed to have.

We are the light in the darkness which you are seeing around you right now. We want to change the country for the better. I’m tired of hearing sad stories about how the country has reached the bottom. I don’t believe that.

While we could certainly wake up from our slumber, we cannot keep dragging our country down. There are people of goodwill, and I believe they exist. We don’t need to give up. It’s not true that the country’s gone to the dogs. We can rise like a phoenix, together, by being consistent, by electing people in Parliament who have no strings attached and who can really serve as the people’s voice.

As ADPD, we were always consistent with this. We always refused any type of financing from people who are now making your lives miserable, with slime in the sea, construction everywhere, with constant abuse of public land and spaces – we never wanted to hear from these people.

We are not against business. We are against people who abuse their position and their money. I am not blinded by money. I see people who will bow their heads and bend like chewing gum whenever they see someone with money. I don’t do that. I’ll ask them where they’re getting their money from. If we need to, we’ll tax them more.”

(somewhat speechless for a second) …I’m smiling because you were speaking very passionately just now. You spoke with a lot of justifiable rage.

“It’s because I see these things every day; I have to live them and fight them. Malta is owned by about 12 families that I can mention one after the other. It’s always the same people. One guy wants to build on ODZ, another wants to build a tower, the other just built up the coastline. It’s always the same.

Someone needs to stop these people. We can’t always just bow our heads to people with money. I don’t care who you are. I don’t know these people. We can go after them. We cannot just keep this up.”

Fair enough.

Your message was always very clear. In fact, I noted down that you used the word ‘consistency’ repeatedly in your arguments, because that’s what ADPD has been.

If there’s one thing critics can’t accuse you of, it’s a lack of truthfulness to the values which you are so passionate about.

A photo of a press conference organised by ADPD. Photo: ADPD

However, my question is about why that passion can be carried over to voters, in a way that sort of ‘converts them’ to your cause.

Something you had mentioned after last year’s elections was that ADPD needs to be rebranded.

“Yes, we’re working on it.”

…so, when I ask you what’s different this time around, your message is consistent and it does resonate with that one third of the electorate that is so dissatisfied.

However, somehow, that passion isn’t reaching them.

Talk to me a bit more about this and the rebranding you just said you’re doing. What are your thoughts about this exactly?

“Currently, we are thinking of something a bit fresher, new, and hopefully more appealing to younger voters, whom I encourage to approach me or Sam, who’s in charge of our youth branch.

Even just saying our name is an earful, ADPD. I want to change our name, our logo, and our strategy. We need to change how we present ourselves. Hopefully, we’ll attract new people who will help us renew the party.

We need renewal, without casting aside our veterans, of course. It is not easy to find people these days. Everyone’s afraid or uninterested, so it’s not easy. Even the big parties were struggling（https://cap.mt/2023/12/11/entering-the-twilight-years/） to find candidates, so you can imagine how difficult it was for us, especially when we’re going against the current in every way.

We need to be more energetic, and we need to dress down our language because sometimes we’re a bit too intellectual. I like simplifying our message so it can come across clearly to more people.

We can’t think about trying to attract a certain type of voter. We need to fish the whole sea. We can’t limit ourselves to our own little puddle. I’m happy with 1.5% of the electorate, but why can’t we grow more? Are we going to just stick to our 1.5%?

I want us to grow bigger than that, so we need to use new methods to do that. We need to look less stuffed-up, too. We need to be a bit more relaxed and approachable. We need to be serious, but we also need to speak to younger people in their own language.”

Right, a younger audience wouldn’t really relate to the standard format of a press conference, for example.

“Yes, exactly. As a teacher, I know that after seven seconds of listening to someone talk, people tend to zone out. So you’re a politician and an entertainer. You need to keep them interested. Speaking for myself, I can think of some people who totally bore me after a couple of minutes of hearing them speak.

So, we need to see that our language must be presented in a fresh manner.”

Okay – let me ask you a few quick questions about this subject. Do you have a formal registration system for party members?

“Yes, we do.”

Okay, can you give me a number?

“Based on what I last heard, there’s just 60 paid members. Hopefully, this number will grow. Most people don’t enjoy the idea that they’d be seen as a paid member of our party. For those who may be worried, you can rest assured that your membership won’t be visible anywhere public.

It also helps our party a lot. The membership isn’t that expensive, it’s €15 per year. It’s a way of showing your support.”

Okay. And when it comes to support from the general public, of course, the best way to tell is to look at the number of voters during general elections.

Let’s talk about what happened since the last general elections in 2022; how have you been doing since then? Do you think you’ve managed to expand your reach? Or are you still struggling with that? Where is ADPD right now, on this front?

“Well, I think there’s a lot more we could do. But when it comes to reach, if you choose your topics well, you can reach a lot of people. We need to pick subjects which are really on people’s minds, what’s really hurting them right now.

We can’t talk too much about things which are too abstract. I notice that when people are following our press conferences, if we’re talking about tangible things which are bothering them at that very moment – a road that’s been closed for months, for example – people follow you, because they can see you’re sticking up for them.

If we’re going to talk about more abstract concepts like global warming, which of course we must talk about, you can immediately notice that people will follow with a lot less interest.