The new seat of power? Local councils 'a stepping stone to parliament', electoral expert

An analysis by Professor John Lane, an electoral expert based in New York, shows that the number of former councillors sitting in the Maltese parliament has shot up from just 10 in 1996 to 25 in the present legislature.

Professor Lane is the creator of www.maltadata.com, a comprehensive electronic database of all Maltese general elections, local council elections and referenda and other statistics from 1921 to the present day.

Prof. Lane’s analysis also shows that a total of 135 persons who contested elections at local level in the past 18 years later sought a seat in Parliament.  Lane’s analysis  shows that the majority of councillors were unsuccessful in their quest for a parliamentary seat. 

In fact only 31 former local councillors (18 Nationalists and 13 Labourites) have actually made it to parliament since 1996.

But judging by the number of councillors elected in the present legislature (25), Prof. Lane concludes that “the importance of local councils as a stepping stone to parliament is real”.

The analysis shows that the number of MPs who were first elected as local councillors increased significantly over the past years.

Only 10 MPs elected in the 1996 legislature had served as councillors prior to their election as MPs.  But significantly all 10 former councillors were elected to serve parliament for the first time. Six of these MPs are still in parliament 14 years later,

The number of ex-councillors in parliament shot up to 14 in 1998 legislature and to 20 in the 2003 legislature.  While 1998 saw the entry of only five new MPs who served previously in councils. One of these Dolores Cristina is a Minister.  2003 saw the influx of 7 former councillors in parliament. These included present Finance Minister Tonio Fenech and junior Minister Clyde Puli.

The current number of MPs who were previously councillors has now reached 25 – which amounts to a staggering 36% of all sitting MPs.

Only eight were new entrants to parliament. One of these Chris Said was appointed as the junior minister responsible for local government.

The present crop of parliamentarians who were first elected in local councils include 10 former mayors (six on the government benches and four on the opposition side). Four former mayors  now occupy posts in the cabinet.

In an interview published last Sunday on MaltaToday Chris Said, the junior minister responsible for local councils (himself a former mayor), attributed the growing number of former councillors in parliament totheir performance at local government level.

“If there is a mayor in any locality who performs well by improving the state of the roads or by organising cultural activities, he would naturally project an image of good governance, which is apparent not just to residents but also to people living elsewhere in the district. Obviously this will make him more popular and electable. If all this is done legally there is absolutely nothing wrong in a councillor or mayor becoming a MP on these merits.”

But he also acknowledged that a risk exists that councillors use their influence in the council to dispense local patronage.

“There is always a risk and that is why we have strengthened the system of checks and balances to ensure that mayors are scrutinised by other councillors and by the executive secretary so that public funds are never used to dispense favours.”

Former councillors currently serving in parliament

Present Labour MPs                         Present Nationalist MPs

Carmelo Abela                                   David Agius

Chris Agius                                         Robert Arrigo

Luciano Busuttil                                  Frederick Azzopardi

Roderick Galdes                                Charlo Bonnici         

Gavin Gulia                                        Dolores Cristina

Silvio Parnis                                       Tonio Fenech

Marlene Pullicino                                Karl Gouder

Joseph M Sammut                             Peter Micallef

Gino Cauchi                                       Philip Mifsud

Chris Cardona                                    Clyde Puli

Owen Bonnici                                    Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando

                                                           Chris Said

                                                           Edwin Vassallo

                                                           Michael Gonzi

Other MPs who served in parliament before:                                                

PL                                                       PN

Joe Farrugia                                       Franco Galea

Joseph Cuscieri                                  Michael Axiaq

                                                            Helen D’Amato

                                                            Victor Galea Pace