The natural choice for persons who believe in civil rights and civil liberties should be to vote for Alternattiva Demokratika, the party Chairperson Michael Briguglio emphasised this morning.

Alternattiva is calling for the separation between Church and State, and if elected in Parliament it will propose the revision of Article 2 of the Constitution. Whilst recognising the fact that religion has contributed substantially to the development of the Maltese community, however the country should place all religions and beliefs on an equal ground. Speaking to the press, the AD Chairperson said that AD has constantly been on the forefront for the introduction of civil rights and liberties in Malta, particularly the issues of divorce, free speech, decriminalisation of drugs for personal use, LGBT rights, minority rights and secularization.

AD candidate Silvan Agius, said that with regards 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,” he said.

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 criminalization in Malta."