My vision as Deputy Chairperson of ADPD – Malta’s Green Party

Yesterday I was elected as deputy chairperson for ADPD – Malta’s Green Party. I have been a member of the party since 2017 and a committee member since summer 2019. When Sandra Gauci announced that she was interested in being the next Chairperson of the party we had a conversation to discuss my role in the future committee. With her support I put myself forward for one of the Deputy Chairperson positions and started to discuss this idea with others. I am ready to increase my engagement in the party and excited about what we can achieve together.

My vision as Deputy Chairperson of ADPD – Malta’s Green Party

As Deputy Chairperson of ADPD I aim to focus my energy internally and support Sandra with the management of internal party structures and community building. I am ready to build and deliver comprehensive strategies to make the most out of the ideas brought to us by executive committee members, volunteers, and our members. I will also focus on using my experience in the FYEG to mentor and train young people who want to be more engaged with green politics in Malta. We already have some training sessions planned, and I can’t wait to see a green youth wing flourish again.

My journey in Green Politics

I joined the party (AD) in 2017 during the general elections. I admired the party’s decision to run their own electoral campaign so as to not compromise on any of their core values, even though the option of being in a “coalition” with PN and PD had been discussed. That general election I found myself volunteering in the counting hall for the party, observing the counting of votes (the last time done manually) and ensuring that a few votes that were clearly for the Greens went to the right pigeon box. As a young member of the party not living in Malta at the time I was encouraged to also stay involved in the activities of the Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG).

Through this engagement, by summer 2018 I had made up my mind – I wanted to offer more time to the Maltese Green party and put forward my European and communications expertise to be one of AD’s candidates for the 2019 European Parliament elections. After the elections I was asked to join the party committee as international secretary. I declined as I wanted to focus my energy on the FYEG, where I was standing as a candidate for co-spokesperson. I was elected as co-spokesperson of the youth wing of the European Greens in 2019 and 2020. Locally, in this time I was one of the members of AD’s committee, and focused mainly on leading internal policy discussions related to sex work, and reproductive rights.

In 2021, leaving the FYEG’s committee, I finally stepped into the role of international secretary for ADPD – and increased my engagement on the European level, representing the Maltese Greens at events of the European Green Party (EGP). In 2022 I ran as a candidate in districts 9 & 10 for the general elections in Malta, and particularly supported Sandra Gauci’s, Melissa Bagley’s and Brian Decelis’ campaigns in their own districts.

Last June I was supported by ADPD and FYEG to run as a candidate for the committee of the EGP. Being elected for the last spot was a journey and a half! And since then, being a member of the committee has been extremely engaging.

Through my active participation in the executive committees of the FYEG and EGP I have learned countless lessons on internal management, strategies, and community building. It is this experience that I can now put to use locally for ADPD.