[WATCH] PN and PD present coalition to 'clean up government'

The Nationalist Party and the Democratic Party have launched their pre-electoral coalition, an unprecedented move in recent political history. The coalition will see PD candidates - including its leader, Marlene Farrugia - run on the PN ticket but distinguished by the nickname 'Tal-Orange', and each party will be free to choose their own electoral candidates.

They will draft a common electoral manifesto, based on the principles of good governance, social justice, a sustainable economy, safeguarding of the environmental and constitutional reform. 

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was quick to mock the announced coalition.

“It is clear in people’s minds that it is either more prosperity, progress and growth or a coalition of confusion leading to national chaos,” he said in a tweet.

Clear in people's minds that it is either more prosperity, progess and growth or a coalition of confusion leading to national chaos -JM

— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) April 28, 2017

Launching the coalition at Parliament, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said that both parties are seriously concerned at the political crisis, which he said has been developing since Labour's election in 2013. 

"We have a common denominator that merits us to unite together to overcome this challenge," he said. "It is hard for a political party to admit that it must be ready to work with other parties, but we are placing the national interest ahead of partisan concerns. We plan to create a large national force based on reason, and we believe we can mobilise the public."

He added that he welcomed the increased scrutiny on the PN that this coalition deal will bring about, arguing that he does not intend to lead a scandal-tainted government.

"If I wanted to do more of the same, then I could have got a job with a better salary. I am here because I want to change the way we do politics."

The PN will today commence coalition negotiations with Alternattiva Demokratika, but Busuttil said it is still too premature to comment on what sort of coalition the PN was seeking with the Green Party. AD's leadership has lambasted the PN-PD coalition model as "assimilation".

When asked by MaltaToday, the Opposition leader also distanced himself from the possibility that the PN could enter a coalition with the Moviment Patrijotti Maltin and Alleanza Bidla.

"For us to reach an agreement with a political party, there must be a common denominator. I won't point fingers at anyone, but I can’t reach a deal with a party with racist and xenophobic tendencies. Our doors are always open but there must be a common denominator of principle; we're not here to sell our souls."

Marlene Farrugia said that the coalition will put into reality the "dream" of a transparent and meritocratic government that Labour had pledged before the election. 

"We shouldn’t discard this dream, but rather nurture it and turn it into a reality through this national force of courage and hope."

She urged the AD to enter today's negotiations with an open mind, insisting that it is their day of reckoning. 

"The country needs AD to contribute to this national force, and this is the time when it can contribute in practice towards a government for all Maltese people. In five years' time, there's a high chance that it will be too late to form a force of democracy and courage."