Alternattiva Demokratika – The Green Party said this morning at a press conference in Valletta that it is the “natural choice for persons who believe in civil rights and civil liberties.”

Michael Briguglio, AD Chairperson, said, “AD has constantly been on the forefront for the introduction of civil rights and liberties in Malta. In issues such as divorce, free speech, decriminalisation of drugs for personal use, LGBT rights, minority rights and secularization, AD has a historic role to speak up for such issues.

“We are also calling for a separation between Church and State, as is the case in modern democracies. In parliament we will propose the revision of Article 2 of the Constitution. Whilst recognising the fact that Christianity has contributed substantially to the development of the Maltese community, it should place all religions and beliefs on an equal footing. We also believe that children should have the right to learn about different religions at school as well as the right to learn ethics without being monopolized by a particular religious belief or philosophy,” Michael Briguglio concluded.

AD candidate Silvan Agius, said, “With regard to civil recognition of minorities and the provision of protection against discrimination, Malta still has a long way to go to guarantee equal rights for all. In this respect AD is proposing a holistic national strategy for equality covering various grounds, including gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, disability, age, religion or belief, and race or ethnic origin.

“We will also work for full equality for same-sex couples including through marriage equality and equal adoption entitlements. We will also ensure that transgender people are treated fairly through adequate gender recognition legislation and the provision of appropriate healthcare.”

AD candidate Robert Callus said, “We repeat our call for reviewing our country’s failed drug policies especially the decriminalization of drugs for personal use as well as a classification between soft and hard drugs. Drug users and drug victims should not be criminalized. Instead, Malta should adopt Portugal’s model of decriminalization of drugs for personal use, which helped reduce various problems related to hard drugs. As things stand, both marijuana smokers and heroin addicts, among others, face criminalisation in Malta.

“Unfortunately when it comes to drugs, the other parties were too busy bickering on whether people snorting cocaine in each other’s clubs were reported or not than addressing the suffering of thousands of drug users or addicts and their families. Suffering that could be significantly decreased if the right policies are in place,” Robert Callus concluded.

Permalink: AD is the ” natural choice for civil rights and civil liberties”