The Democratic Party ( mt, Partit Demokratiku, PD) was a

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

political party in Malta. It was founded in 2016 after a split from the Labour Party. It elected Malta's first two third party MPs for the first time since the country's Independence. In August 2020 the party announced an agreement to merge with the green Democratic Alternative party to form a new party called

AD+PD Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

. The merger was conducted on 17 October 2020.

History

The PD was founded in 2016 by

Marlene Farrugia Marlene Farrugia (born 24 July 1966) is a Malta, Maltese former Member of Parliament and former leader of the Democratic Party (Malta), Democratic Party. Previously she had been a member of the Nationalist Party (Malta), Nationalist Party, with w ...

, who previously sat as an MP for the Labour Party before leaving the party and sitting as an independent MP. Announcing the formation of the new party in June 2016, Farrugia as interim leader stated that the party was a new alternative to the traditionally dominant Labour and

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

parties. Upon formation, founder Marlene Farrugia was declared interim leader. On 21 October 2016, Farrugia was elected the first leader of the PD at a general meeting to confirm the party executive. The party was formally registered with the Electoral Commission of Malta in November 2016. The party afterwards engaged in talks to form a pre-electoral coalition with the Nationalist Party, resulting in the formation of

Forza Nazzjonali Forza Nazzjonali ( Maltese for "National Force") was an electoral alliance in Malta. The alliance was formed in April 2017 between the Nationalist Party (PN) and Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United St ...

, just in time for the

2017 Maltese general election General elections were held in Malta on Saturday, 3 June 2017 to elect all members of the House of Representatives.. The elections were contested by the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the Nationalist Party, led by oppositi ...

. PD elected the first Members of Parliament who were not a part of one of the two major parties for the first time since the

Independence of Malta Malta has a long history and was first inhabited in around 5900 BC. The first inhabitants were farmers, and their agricultural methods degraded the soil until the islands became uninhabitable. The islands were repopulated around 3850 BC ...

. Shortly after the election,

resigned as leader of PD, claiming the party needed to form an identity of its own. In the ensuing leadership challenge, Anthony Buttigieg became the leader of PD, until standing down in late 2018 to run as an MEP candidate for the party. He was replaced by

Godfrey Farrugia Godfrey Farrugia (born May 4, 1960, in Żebbuġ), is a former Maltese politician, a family doctor, who served as member of the Maltese parliament from 2013 to 2022. He formerly served as the Minister for Health and a Government Whip, of which h ...

, one of the party's two MPs. Godfrey Farrugia led the party into the 2019 European Parliament election in Malta. Some months afterwards, both Godfrey Farrugia and Marlene Farrugia resigned from PD, claiming they were giving it a chance to rebuild the third party movement with a fresh image. After the resignation of PD's Members of Parliament, deputy leader

Timothy Alden Rev Timothy Alden, Jun. (August 28, 1771 – July 5, 1839) was an educator and founder of Allegheny College. Early life Timothy Alden was born in Yarmouth, Massachusetts on August 28, 1771. After receiving a theology degree from Harvard Coll ...

declared that he was not quitting anything and became the interim leader of the party. In December of 2019, it was announced that ever since September, the party had been in talks with

Alternattiva Demokratika Democratic Alternative ( mt, Alternattiva Demokratika), sometimes referred to as AD – The Green Party, was a green political party in Malta. The party was initially founded by a coalition of former Labour Party members and environmental acti ...

to merge into a new party. On the 17th of October, 2020, the party merged with

to create the

Policies

The PD website cited a manifesto covering a variety of domains, focussing prominently on democratic principles and good governance. It also tackled issues of the economy, environment, justice and security, as well as other social issues.

Elections

2017 general elections

Farrugia stated in January 2017 that the PD was "close" to forming a deal with the opposition Nationalist Party where the two parties would cooperate against the Labour government, though she did not specify if such a deal would be a formal coalition. On 7 April 2017 Farrugia confirmed in an interview with the ''Times of Malta'' that PD candidates would be listed as Nationalist Party candidates on the ballot for the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

. Despite reaching agreement about running candidates under the same banner, formal coalition negotiations remained ongoing until the announcement of a formal agreement on 28 April. Under the agreement, PD candidates contested the 2017 election with their party affiliation listed as Nationalist "''tal-oranġjo''" (the orange ones) and any PD candidates elected to Parliament would have been part of a Nationalist-led government. Both Marlene Farrugia and Godfrey Farrugia were the only Democratic Party candidates to be elected in 2017, making them the first elected Members of Parliament from a

third party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a Veh ...

since 1962.

Post-2017 elections

Marlene Farrugia formally resigned from the Leadership of the Partit Demokratiku on 21 August 2017, as part of the process of giving the party an identity distinct from herself. On 30 October 2017, Anthony Buttigieg was declared the new leader, with Marlene Farrugia and

providing parliamentary continuity in the executive. On 1 December 2017 the PD was admitted into the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, which made the party's image officially considered

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...

2019 European parliament elections

PD contested for the 2019 European parliament elections, their first outing in European elections. They announced the approval of 3 European parliamentary election candidates,

Martin Cauchi Inglott Martin Cauchi Inglott is a Maltese politician. He was secretary-general of the Partit Demokratiku or Democratic Party of Malta and was formerly an officer in the Armed Forces of Malta The Armed Forces of Malta ( mt, Forzi Armati ta' Mal ...

, a senior retired

Armed Forces of Malta The Armed Forces of Malta ( mt, Forzi Armati ta' Malta) is the name given to the combined armed services of Malta. The AFM is a brigade sized organisation consisting of a headquarters and three separate battalions, with minimal air and naval ...

officer and the current secretary general of the party, and Anthony Buttigieg, the former leader of the party, and Cami Appelgren, an

environmental activist The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists advoc ...

and the leader of the

environmental organization An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces. In this sense the environment ...

Malta Clean Up. PD failed to secure any seats, winning 5,276 votes, or 2.03% of the votes cast.

2019 local council elections

PD contested for the 2019 local council elections. PD announced the approval of 7 local council election candidates:

for

Sliema Sliema ( mt, Tas-Sliema ) is a town located on the northeast coast of Malta in the Districts of Malta#Northern Harbour District, Northern Harbour District. It is a major residential and commercial area and a centre for shopping, bars, dining, a ...

, Raymond Azzopardi for St. Julian's, Mark Zerafa for

Birkirkara Birkirkara (abbreviated as B'Kara) is a city in the central region of Malta. It is the second most populous on the island, with 24,356 inhabitants as of 2020. The town consists of five autonomous parishes: Saint Helen, Saint Joseph the Worker, Ou ...

, Karen Vella Freeman for St. Paul's Bay, Charles Polidano for

Qrendi Qrendi ( mt, Il-Qrendi) is a village in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 2752 people as of March 2014. It is located close to Mqabba, Żurrieq and Siggiewi. Within its boundaries are two well-known Neolithic temples called ...

, Michael Bonett for

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

, and Manuel Farrugia for

Tarxien Tarxien ( mt, Ħal Tarxien) is a town in the South Eastern Region of Malta. Its population stood at 8583 in March 2014. The town is most notable for the Tarxien Temples, a megalithic temple complex which is among the oldest freestanding structur ...

. The party failed to elect any of its candidates.

Leaders

(21 October 2016 - 21 August 2017) - resigned as part of the process of giving the party an identity distinct from herself. * Anthony Buttigieg (30 October 2017 - 8 October 2018) - resigned as part of his campaign as an MEP candidate for the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...

. *

(13 October 2018 – 22 September 2019) *

(22 September 2019 – 06 July 2020) - ''Ad interim,'' (6 July 2020 – 3 August) *

Transition Team (3 August - 17 October)

Executive committee

*Leader – Timothy Alden *Deputy Leader – Raymond Azzopardi *General Secretary – Mark Zerafa *Public Relations Officer – Marcus Lauri *Treasurer – Carmel Asciak *Members – Melissa J. Bagley, Matthew Mizzi, Martina Caruana, Duncan Bonnici

Election results

General elections

European elections

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Defunct political parties in Malta 2016 establishments in Malta Political parties established in 2016 Liberal parties in Europe Green liberalism Social liberal parties Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party member parties 2020 disestablishments in Malta Political parties disestablished in 2020 Defunct liberal political parties