The organisers of the Marsa protest that was held on Sunday had invited all political parties to take part but no members of the major political parties attended the walk.

In fact the general consensus among both the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party was that no politician wanted to attend a protest which now had far right elements embedded in to it. Such a claim was made by the mayors in the area who said that the protest had become hijacked by right wing sentiments.

The protest was to highlight the concern of the Marsa residents regarding the level of crime in the area, which they attribute to the highly concentrated migrant population. The protest saw approximately 230 to 300 people attend with Norman Lowell and leader of the Patrijotti Maltin, Henry Battistino attending.

Several politicians replied to this newsroom that although they understood and were aware of the issues and problems in Marsa they could not go to a protest which could have had right wing elements in it.

Minister of the Environment, Jose Herrera, who was elected in the first district which includes Marsa, told this newsroom that he appreciated the awkward situations the residents were finding themselves in due to a strong concentration of multiculturalism which can disrupt daily life and therefore has sympathy for them.

"But this march was dominated by far right people, and I am not a racist so I am not going to a walk in a protest where there is a chance of people holding racial slogans or something that could have a racial connotation. I simply won't attend" he asserted.

"It doesn't mean I am not in solidarity with the people of Marsa and a solution for the people in Marsa needs to be found. I believe there needs to be some sort of national burden sharing".

When asked about the dire environmental conditions in Marsa the minister said he was well aware of the environmental issues and is getting involved in infrastructure projects in the area. "In the coming weeks I will be announcing projects to upgrade the area there. We gave them €80,000 funds but it's not enough" Dr Herrera confirmed.

Shadow minister for Home Affairs, Beppe Fenech Adami, told this newspaper, "We are facing a reality which needs to be addressed however certain messages which were conveyed at the protest and the build-up, were the wrong messages. I think how the event evolved and the influence of the right wing or a racist group, is not the proper way to face the issues of what Malta is facing in this context the Opposition should not participate in such an event.

"Marsa has its problems but the solution is not by continuing to ferment racism."

Deputy PN leader Mario De Marco also confirmed that he would not attend the walk due to issue of right wing entities being present.

Furthermore, newly elected leader of the Nationalist party, Adrian Delia, when interview by Peppi Azzopardi and asked about the Marsa protest said that he has never spoken about immigrants but about crime in certain areas in Malta. 

"I didn't speak about immigrants I spoke about crime. I spoke about gangs in certain areas. It is useless to say it doesn't exist because they come from a different country to try and sound politically correct. It is a fact if these gangs are truly committing crimes then we must do something. Ghettos are continuing to increase and we need to act soon," he added.