“We have nothing to be ashamed of!” Ġwann Alagona calls for restoration of the AgKMayor of Belt-tal-Qam and grandson of liberal icon Guiliano Alagona defends his family's legacy, and that of the Alliance for Cildania, before a large crowd of supporters10 October 5407Belt-tal-Qam, Principality of Aqildar - In a packed auditorium filled with cigarette smoke in central Belt-tal-Qam, Mayor Ġwann Alagona called for the restoration of the long-defunct Alliance for Cildania (AgK) electoral coalition. The Mayor is the grandson of former Prime Minister Guiliano Alagona, and a member of the prominent Alagona family.
The AgK was founded in March 5320 by iconic politician and Constitutionalist Party (PK) founder Sigismondo Falzon and liberal figurehead Guiliano Alagona of the Alagona Faction (FA). Over the years, the AgK would play a central role in Cildanian politics, participating in the majority of elected governments following the restoration of multi-party democracy in 5321. It would ultimately collapse in the 5360s following a series of anti-corruption probes which some, including Alagona, have reassessed as having been politically motivated.
“Our legacy is nothing more than very establishment of democracy in our homeland” shouted Alagona, met with the roar of the crowd, followed by fits of coughing throughout the auditorium. “To this charge, we plead guilty!”
A lawyer by training, Alagona produced an extended list of additional charges to which he pled: “To those who accuse us of crimes, we plead guilty to the following: yes, we are guilty of bringing about the Constitution! Yes, we are guilty of promoting and protecting the rights of all! Yes, we are guilty of building a state so strong and stable that the fascists could only defeat us by plotting to weaponize the state against us!”
Throughout the six hour speech, Alagona passionately defended the history of the AgK, and the service of his family, describing the populist anti-corruption discourse of the 5350s-5360s as a tool which was weaponized by “anti-democratic and fascist” political actors, such as the far-right Order of Saint Sebastian (OtSB) and its partner in government, One Flag (BW). Alagona alleges that such discourse provided cover for the normalization of far-right politics in the country by long-time opponents of the AgK, which culminated in the targeted criminal investigations of the Alagona family, among other prominent progressive, liberal, and centrist political figures.
The investigation and prosecution of former Prime Minister Elena Alagona, daughter of Guiliano Alagona, was catastrophic for the Alagona Faction, which dissolved in 5363 to be succeeded by two short-lived successor parties: the Cildanian Social Democratic Party and Liberal Values. Meanwhile, former deputy PM and Constitutionalist Party leader Sigismondo Falzon disappeared sometime around 5348
following a heart attack three years prior. Falzon remained leader of the Constitutionalist Party, as the party had not developed a legal mechanism for removing its leader or selecting a successor; as such, the party slowly withered away until it merged with the Cildanian Social Democratic Party and Liberal Values to become the United Social Liberal Party in 5366.
Mayor Alagona, who was elected as an independent, promises that a restored Alliance for Cildania will provide the necessary institutional instrument for rebuilding the failing Cildanian state through coordinating the policy of local and national political actors, many of whom have shed their party affiliations in recent years. Alagona's call has attracted a few high-profile supporters including: Ċensu Pene-Qasir, son of the "Condom King;" Tonio Pullicino III, grandson of former PK government minister Tonio Pullicino; and Ewgenju Lanfranco, President of the Cildanian Tobacconists Association, among others.
Il-Ġurnal is a broadsheet daily newspaper in Cildania, owned by the Magro Family. The newspaper has a 'moderate' editorial bent.