ADPD explains \u2018ilkoll\u2019 slogan: \u2018We do better when we act together\u2019<\/p>\n
In a press conference on Sunday, ADPD – The Green Party Deputy Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo explained that the slogan chosen by the party for this election is a political programme encapsulated in one word, the Maltese word ilkoll, meaning “together”, or better still “all of us together”. <\/p>\n
“The clear message being that we do better when we act together, when we care for each other,” the party said.<\/p>\n
“We are all in this together, clearly distinct from being on your own. Being together signifies solidarity. It also signifies seeking the common good,” he said.<\/p>\n
The party questioned how we can all be in this together if we do not care for each other. “It is not just about inter-generational solidarity. It is also about intra-generational solidarity, that is, about taking care of our descendants,” the party added.<\/p>\n
“This is the real significance of sustainability: being a good ancestor. That is, ensuring that we care not just about the present but also about the future. This can be achieved by taking reasonable and responsible decisions today. By ensuring that we do not discount the future.”<\/p>\n
“In fact, this is exactly what we are facing today. Having a national debt of over €11 billion, and rising, is no joke, even though it is technically within EU acceptable parameters. Can this country keep piling up the national debt with ever-increasing and irresponsible electoral commitments?”<\/p>\n
“We are in this together” also signifies that we also have the duty to shoulder today’s burdens together. We cannot keep sending the burden into the future expecting that it is shouldered by future generations, the party said.<\/p>\n
ADPD-The Green Party Chairperson Sandra Gauci said notwithstanding the rhetoric, governments do not give sufficient importance to sustainable development as this is not just about today. It is rather about how today’s activity should not prejudice tomorrow and future generations. Their interest, generally, does not span more than between two general elections. We need to think and plan far more into the future.<\/p>\n
“Both the Labour Party and the PN are actively engaged in a competition as to who promises to reduce the most taxes as well as dishing out never-ending handouts, tax reductions and subsidies. It is a race to the bottom. They have been at it for years, in the process, and as a result, contributing to an ever-increasing national debt. In the current circumstances this serves one purpose: shifting the tax burden from the present generations into the future. The end result is that we are living beyond our means. As a nation we cannot pay our bills and consequently we are shouldering future generations with this burden,” Gauci said.<\/p>\n
“The Labour Party in government has continuously relied on future generations to fund its handouts, tax refunds, tax reductions and subsidies. As a result, that national debt has skyrocketed from €4.9 billion in 2012, was just under €10 billion in 2023 and is currently on the way to surpass the €12 billion mark.”<\/p>\n
She added that we cannot keep shifting the burdens onto the future, through present day consumption patterns, handouts, tax reductions and subsidies.<\/p>\n
“We need to be in this together. Acting responsibly in the present takes care of the future too. All of us, together,” she said.<\/p>\n
The party said that in a functioning democracy, participation is not translated into a vote every 4 or 5 years. It includes the use of spaces through which our voices are heard. <\/p>\n
“These spaces were shaped by civil society, individuals and political parties including ADPD-The Green Party, so that the collective voice could be heard. If you look at these spaces, you will find that they were a cry, one after the other, so that the narrow interests of the privileged, of those who find the path wide open because they lick power, are broadened to include common interests,” the party said.<\/p>\n
ADPD said that it has continuously raised its voice on the need for the wealth generated to be shared equitably. That economic decisions do not only look to the immediate, but also to the future. That the national human resource is used in its entirety, not half of it depending on who is in government. That planning decisions consider the community good, not the profit motive. That our vote counts in the same way and no less than that of those who put the parties in parliament in their pockets. That our youth have the right to a roof over their heads just as much as anyone else.<\/p>\n
ADPD said that it will continue to explain its proposals for a government which seeks the common good in the coming days.<\/p>\n