Parties make final pitch during final televised debate

The third and final political debate organised by the Broadcasting Authority was broadcast tonight. The subject chosen for the debate on the local council elections to be held this Saturday was 'Localities for our families'.

The debate was a dull encounter when compared to the fiery and animated debates the Maltese electorate has become accustomed to during last year's divorce referendum and previous general elections.   

Once again the Mosta local council election was one of the main points of contention and representatives of the Nationalist Party and the Labour Party got embroiled in another long-winded argument over the troubled council.

The debate presented the representatives of the three main parties with an opportunity to make a final appeal to voters to get out and vote.

Alternattiva Demokratika's chairperson and candidate for the Sliema council, Michael Briguglio urged voters not to waste their vote by abstaining and said that unlike the PN and PL, the Green Party advises the electorate to vote for its candidates and other candidates from other parties who are autonomous and are not "attached to big construction firms."

He described the outgoing Sliema local council and the two main parties as being a "hostage of big construction firms."

Briguglio urged the electorate to vote for councillors "who are ready to work with everybody." He added that AD councillors are "a bridge between the two big parties and a force of reason which helps reach a consensus."  

"Alternattiva Demokratika councillors will ensure that localities belong to families especially the most vulnerable members of society such as the elderly, disabled persons and children," Briguglio said.

The Nationalist Party was represented by Caroline Galea and Carol Aquilina. They both emphasised the government's investment in local councils during the last four years and stressed the importance of placing the family at the centre of politics.

Aquilina, deputy mayor of Siggiewi and president of the PN's administrative council said that local council can catalyse change at both a local and national level. He highlighted the PN's 30-point manifesto which addresses three main issues; infrastructure and the environment, the social aspect and job creation.

Galea, a PN councillor in St Lucia explained that local councils are the "brainchild"  of the Nationalist Party and said that in the last four years the current administration invested 160 million in local councils.

On the scandal-ridden Mosta local council, Galea asked "where was Joseph Muscat?" She described the council as a "fiasco" and said that unlike the government's stance on the Sliema council which was ultimately dissolved,  the Opposition leader "dragged his feet to the detriment of families in Mosta and unlike the Sliema case, Muscat took no action in Mosta and did not urge the Labour-led council to resign."

In what almost sounded like an admission of fault, Galea said that she recognises that "some PN local councillors were excellent, some were less excellent and others ended up hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons."

For the first time in this series of three debates, the Labour Party sent two candidates. Prospective candidates Edric Micallef and Roberto Cristiano contesting elections in Marsaxlokk and Gzira respectively, represented the party.

Micallef started his first intervention by saying "I hope that today's Nationalist Party representatives do not have a phobia of Labour voters" Micallef dedicated large parts of his allocated time to the Delimara power station controversy and said that the government has committed a mistake in deciding to run the plant on heavy fuel oil.   

Both Labour candidates emphasised Labour's promise to remove bureaucracy which hinders businesses and reiterated the party's pledge to offer concrete proposals and really place families at the centre of its politics.

The other Labour candidate, Roberto Cristiano who is contesting the Gzira election said that the PN is only mentioning families for its convenience.

Cristiano urged the electorate to vote for all Labour candidates and said "Local councils should not serve the few but should represent everybody. The Labour Party will lead by example in all localities."