Election candidates battle it out on party promises

Nationalist candidates for the 11 April elections were determined to bring local councils closer to the people following the result of the 2013 general election loss, candidate Alessia Psaila Zammit said in a Broadcasting Authority debate.

The first-time candidate, running for the Siggiewi council, said the Opposition had taken stock of the last election result. “Many feel that the party had cut itself off from people’s realities by focusing on national issues, but our candidates are determined to bring the councils to the people,” she stressed.

Both Psaila Zammit and Xaghra candidate Kevin Cutajar, who had contested the European elections in 2014, accused the government of failing in keeping promises it made over the past two years.

One of these was the provision of medicines to elderly people’s homes, and the failure to build a new LNG power plant in Delimara in 2015. “The reason the government kept its promise to close down the polluting Marsa power station, was because of the work carried out by the previous government to ensure better energy solutions,” she said, referring to the Malta-Sicily interconnector being launched in the coming days.

Labour candidate Carlo Mifsud, running on Siggiewi, countered that the government had made significant changes in the last two years, citing the reductions in energy bills, the cut in fuel prices at the pump, free childcare, and reforming Enemalta. “Every international report shows that our country is improving economically,” Mifsud said of government finances showing a decrease in deficit figures.

Labour MP Deborah Schembri added that the government was also addressing elderly healthcare with the launch of day centres across various locations, cutting down on waiting lists for operations, and the almost total elimination of medicines being out of stock.

“The government has committed to a renovation of St Luke’s Hospital and a regeneration of Karin Grech Hospital in response to the lack of hospital beds. The opening of Bart’s medical school in Gozo is a further step in this direction,” she said.

Alternattiva Demokratika candidate Monique Agius, running for the Zebbug council, focused on the importance of transparency in local councils, and that party promises should be realistic. “In a community like Zebbug, where debt has risen to €1.3 million, we cannot make any far-fetched promises just to obtain more votes,” she said.

“AD will not engage in projects they can’t afford,” she said, adding that the party wanted to see a percentage of existing tax revenues passed on to local councils’ funds.

Agius said AD’s commitment to reaching the 2020 environmental aims through initiatives like shared spaces, tree planting, bicycle racks and carpooling as well as car free centres. “Although not all of these aspects may seem directly linked to the remit of a local council, AD believes that they can make a difference in raising awareness and educating the community about certain practices,” she said.