[WATCH] Over 200 candidates contesting local council elections on Labour ticket

Over 200 candidates will be contesting the local council elections on a Labour ticket, to be held next March.

The Labour Party this morning presented its Maltese and Gozitan candidates in two separate events - one in Gozo and other in Malta.

Standing next to the Wignacourt Tower in St Paul's Bay, PL leader Joseph Muscat said he was pleased with "the exceptional team" he had around him. "I am fully convinced that they can be trusted with the leadership our localities. Even when in minority, they'll be giving their utmost," he said.

Muscat said the group was not only "big in quantity but also in quality", adding the PL has today opened up to become a movement attracting individuals of all ages coming from all walks of life.

"It is however disappointing that female candidates add up to only 17% of the Maltese group. We have found it difficult to convince women to go for the elections which sheds light on the need for more initiatives to attract more women across all boards in the country," he said.

The Labour leader pointed out that female candidates in Gozo add up to 25%.

Muscat added that it was heartening that 57 candidates came from START, a campaign run by the PL's youth branch intended to encourage youths to step up their involvement in the community.

He added that the fact that 42% of the candidates are contesting for the first time is a sign that the PL represents energy, continuity and dynamism.  The PL will also have 28 candidates running in Gozo.

Referring to the addition of the Sliema locality in the elections, Muscat said "GonziPN was playing with democracy to place in advantage his own party". He argued that the PN forced the dissolving of the council "to tip the balance in its favour".

The Labour leader said that if the PL had wanted to play "that game" it would have withdrew its candidates from the Marsa and Zejtun local councils, referring to the withdrawal of the PN candidates from the two localities in the 2008 elections. Muscat added that four PL candidates have been confirmed to contest the Sliema elections.

Muscat reiterated the Labour councilors would work in favour of the families and the businesses and would not hinder their work by bureaucracy. "Labour councilors will be close to the people to implement much needed reforms in their localities. The councils will also be closer to the business community also by taking initiatives to further create jobs," he said.

Confronted by a journalist from the Nationalist Party's media company, Muscat denied ever defending former Sliema mayor Nikki Dimech who was charged with bribery and having reviled and threatened a public officer in the course of duty. The former mayor has strongly denied the charges.

The PL had alleged that the whole saga surrounding Dimech's case was a "power struggle" between opposing factions within the PN.

"Dimech was a PN candidate, chosen by the PN and elected on a PN ticket. Labour had nothing to do with either Dimech or the whole case. It was an internal issue," Muscat said.

The PN journalist went on to question Muscat on former PN candidate Cyrus Engerer, who has now joined the Labour Party. Muscat said Engerer had been victimised after he decided to join Labour. He has repeatedly argued that there "have been far too many coincidences" following Engerer's defection from the Nationalist Party.

Muscat was referring to the arrest of Engerer's father for marijuana possession and, a few days later, charges were filed against Engerer, accused of e-mailing pornographic photos of his former boyfriend.

An inquiry set up following allegations that there could have been a link between Engerer's resignation and the filing of charges had revealed that the link could not be ruled out, but there had been no evidence of irregularity.